The Huskers had it, then they had bad luck and heartbreak, and the Hawkeyes had the heroes

On an extremely icy Friday night in Iowa City, the Iowa Hawkeyes were dominated throughout and inexplicably won 13-10 on a walk-off field goal that gave them their only lead of the game. It was shocking and painful and yet almost commonplace, as Iowa had pulled the same trick four times against Nebraska since 2018, and for the seventh straight game in the series the outcome was decided by fewer than seven points. In a game that shouldn’t have been close, the Huskers had two special teams errors, a defensive error and a controversial lost fumble with :20 remaining.

Nebraska outshot Iowa 334-164, had a 20-5 lead on first downs, nearly doubled Iowa on time of possession, held Iowa to 0-for-10 on third down conversions and played 25 more plays than the Hawkeyes…and lost. Iowa’s five first downs were the fewest by a winning team in the FBS since 2000. It was also the fewest first downs Nebraska has allowed since Kansas managed that many first downs against Nebraska on Nov. 13, 2010.

Nebraska led 10-0 at halftime with a field goal on its first possession following a 10-play, 64-yard drive and a touchdown on its final possession of the half, rushing 74 yards on 12 plays. The Blackshirts held Iowa to 20 yards on 20 plays in the first half, with five 3-and-outs and a single first down. It also appeared that the Huskers should have been awarded a safety on a kickoff with :38 remaining when the Hawkeye returner touched the ball downfield and dragged it into the end zone. That wasn’t the case for Big Ten officials, and it wasn’t surprising, as things got worse and worse as the game went on.

Nebraska took over the offense in the second half and went 65 yards in 11 plays before a bad snap led to a missed 34-yard field goal when the Huskers could have taken a 13-0 lead. The Iowa quarterback then fumbled twice on his first offensive play and the Huskers were unable to capitalize. Nebraska then tries to recover a punt that no one had touched, and apparently Vincent Shavers touched the ball a millisecond before the Iowa defender and the Hawkeyes got a gift at the 4-yard line. After a brilliant stand at the goal line, Iowa kicks a field goal and reduces the score to 10-3. At that point, Iowa had 51 total yards. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Iowa Kaleb Johnson ran a screen play that should have been stopped for no gain, but five missed tackles later the running back had traveled 72 yards for the tying score. With the exception of that one play, Iowa had 92 yards of total offense the rest of the game.

Isaiah Neyor has a chance to score, dropping a pass that might have been a touchdown or at least deep in Iowa territory. Then, with 20 seconds left, Nebraska does what it can’t do: It turns the ball over in its own territory, and the Iowa kicker fires a 53-yarder for the win. Dylan Raiola’s strip sack was also controversial. He then stated that he believed he had brought the ball to the ground in a controlled manner. But somehow an Iowa defender is allowed to get the ball out from under Raiola and it is considered a loss of possession. Only in Iowa can these things happen. Only in a state where pigs outnumber people seven to one.

The defense played excellently except for one single play. The five first downs and 164 total yards are the fewest totals Nebraska has allowed in a Big Ten Conference game. Iowa also had 115 passing yards, the fewest by an opponent this season. The Huskers had one sack and 9 tackles for a loss. Defensive lineman Ty Robinson continued his dominant season with three tackles, a TFL and a quarterback rush. He finished the regular season with a team-leading total of 6.0 sacks and 11.0 TFLs. Malcolm Hartzog, John Bullock and DeShon Singleton led the defense with five stops each and James Williams picked up his fifth sack of the season.

Nebraska freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola completed 22 of 32 passes for 190 yards. With his 190 passing yards, Raiola increased his season passing yards total to 2,595 yards and moved to 10th on Nebraska’s season passing lists and came within 22 yards of first-year passing record set by Adrian Martinez of 2,617 in 2018. He has also completed 71.3 percent of his passes in the last three games, completing 77 of 108 passes.

Dante Dowdell (13 carries for 50 yards) had a 1-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter to give Nebraska a 10-0 lead, his 12th rushing touchdown of the season. Emmett Johnson added 18 carries for 71 yards and led all receivers with 6 receptions for 25 yards. Jahmal Banks contributed four catches for 41 yards and true freshman receiver Jacory Barney Jr. caught three passes for 29 yards, giving him 52 catches this season. Barney is three catches shy of JD Spielman’s record for most balls by a freshman in school history (Spielman caught 55 passes in 2017). Nate Boerkircher had two big catches for 39 yards and Thomas Fidone had a grab for 25 yards.

When it mattered most, Nebraska’s special teams were lacking. The missed field goal and botched punt represented a 6-point difference in a game lost by three. Brian Buschini’s potential record-breaking season was cut short by a 34.9 punt average in 7 boots. Yes, it was cold, but the Iowa player averaged 40.4 yards on 9 shots. Jacory Barney’s two kickoff returns failed to make it past the 20.

The Huskers finished the regular season at 6-6, just one game better than last year’s record. Coulda, coulda, shoulda, as five of the six defeats came in single-score games, compared to just one win in those close contests. Bowling’s destination isn’t set yet, but a win to avoid another losing season is almost imperative at this point lest the offseason be filled with plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth.Go Big Red!!!

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