On a frigidly cold Black Friday in Memorial Stadium, the Iowa Hawkeyes held the Nebraska Cornhuskers at bay for a half and then pulled away after intermission for a thoroughly dominating 40-16 victory and retained control of the Heroes Trophy. It was the second straight blowout loss for Nebraska and third on the season that was supposed to be a step forward for the Huskers return to relevance. Nebraska hasn’t beaten Iowa in Memorial Stadium in 14 years. They have now dropped 10 of the last 11 contests. That does not fit the definition of a rivalry, even if many of those games were close. This one wasn’t.
After opening the season 5-1 for the second year in a row, Nebraska goes 2-5 to round out the year and 1-4 in November. That’s 2-12 in November since Matt Rhule assumed the helm. At least the 2024 schedule featured two playoff teams, but the 2025 schedule was considerably weaker and 2026 will be far more arduous as the Huskers play Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon. The Huskers had to get better this year and I’m not sure that they did. Much can be said about this squad being the youngest in the league, but these underclassmen are going to have to markedly improve for the team to flirt with .500 next year.
With NIL and the transfer portal, it’s impossible at this point to know who will return and who will be added. It’s highly likely that the best player this season, Emmett Johnson, will opt out of his senior year and declare for the NFL draft. A reliable backup running back failed to emerge this season. We don’t even know who the signal caller will be as rumors abound about Dylan Raiola exploring his options. Will 3.5 million buy two offensive tackles?
Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson takes off on a 70-yard run against Iowa. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN
On to the game, which was a disappointing display all its own. After punting on its first possession, Nebraska began their second series at their own 10-yard line and went 90 yards on four plays highlighted by a 70-yard scamper by Emmett Johnson to inside the one. It was extremely well blocked and was about the only highlight for the Huskers. On the ensuing kickoff, John Hohl did exactly what you cannot do; kicked a line drive boot to Kaden Wetjen who returned it 51 yards and then Hohl was flagged for 15 more and Iowa had the ball at the NU 29-yard line. The defense held Iowa to a field goal, before the Hawkeyes scored touchdowns on five of their next seven possessions.
The game was tied at 10-10 after the first quarter before Nebraska traded field goals for touchdowns in the second and trailed 24-16 at the break. At that point, Nebraska had out-yarded Iowa 231-198 and out-rushed the Hawkeyes 189-112. In fact, before Iowa’s 75-yard scoring drive just before half, the Blackshirts had held Iowa to just 123 total yards. Nebraska even forced two punts to begin the second half, before the game turned on a fumbled punt by Jacory Barney that resulted in a safety. Granted, it appeared that the fumble occurred after he was targeted on a direct helmet to facemask shot, but Nebraska seldom will get that call. At that point with 11:16 to go in the 3rd quarter until the end of the game, Nebraska was outscored 16-0 and out-yarded 174-84 with 74 of Nebraska’s yards coming on their last drive, which they fumbled away inside the 1-yard line. Iowa held a 20:36-9:24 advantage in second half time of possession.
Nebraska wasted a stellar performance by Emmett Johnson who rushed 29 times for a career-high 217 yards and one touchdown and had two catches for 22 yards accounting for 239 of Nebraska’s 300 total yards. Johnson ran like a man possessed and was the first Husker to rush for 200 yards since Ameer Abdullah rushed for 225 yards against Rutgers in 2014. His rushing total was the most against Iowa this season, bettering a 145-yard effort by Penn State’s Kaytron Allen and he was just the fourth player to have a 200-yard rushing game against Iowa since 2015. Johnson’s eight 100-yard rushing games this season are also the most for a Husker since 2013. His six 100-yard rushing games in Big Ten play are the most by any Power Four conference player in league games. His 70-yard run was also the longest rush against Iowa since 2014. Imagine what a disaster this season would have been without EJ. No, don’t imagine that.
Freshman quarterback TJ Lateef had an apparent hamstring injury in the first half and was a non-factor as he completed just 9 of 24 passes for a paltry 69 yards with a long completion of 13 yards. He was not sacked but rushed just one time for 2 yards. Iowa covered the perimeter extremely well and harassed Lateef on rollouts leading to multiple overthrown passes. When he threw an accurate pass, Iowa was able to break up almost all the 50/50 balls. After having his way against UCLA’s poor defense, he was incredibly pedestrian against good defenses. With the improvement in blocking by the offensive line, one wonders how the outcome may have been different with a healthy Dylan Raiola taking the snaps.
Dane Key led receivers with 3 catches for 16 yards, and Luke Linenmeyer had 2 receptions for 20 yards. I really thought that the tight ends could have been a more significant factor than they were. Nyziah Hunter and Jacory Barney each had a catch for minimal yards with Hunter at least drawing a DPI. Again, other than Johnson, the Husker offense did about nada.
Nebraska wide receiver Dane Key tries to reel in a pass from TJ Lateef. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN
Defensively, the Blackshirts surrendered six explosive plays that accounted for 194 of Iowa’s 379 total yards. One was a 35-yard passing touchdown and the other five plays all led to scores. Iowa was 7 for 12 converting 3rd downs and 1 for 1 on 4th down conversions as the defense only forced 3 punts in the game. They failed to sack Iowa QB Mark Gronowski who, despite his girth, repeatedly eluded defenders and rushed for 64 yards. I continue to remain puzzled that DC Butler insists on 3-man fronts even on the goal-line. Granted, we may not have the right personnel, but this defense will not allow us to be competitive in the run heavy Big Ten.
Redshirt freshman cornerback Donovan Jones was the co-leader with nine tackles to increase his season total to 51. He is just the fifth freshman with 50 tackles in a season since freshmen regained eligibility in 1972. Javin Wright also had 9 stops and freshman safety Rex Guthrie had three tackles to increase his season total to 60 tackles, leaving him just five tackles from Michael Rose-Ivey’s freshman record of 65 tackles in 2013. Marques Watson-Trent had five tackles to give him 400 career tackles and is just the second active FBS player with 400 career tackles.
Special teams needed to be perfect for Nebraska to have a chance and they weren’t. Place-kicker Kyle Cunanan connected on a season-high three field goals to finish 16 of 19 for the year. Archie Wilson had all four punts against a stiff breeze and averaged just 32 yards but did not allow a return. The kickoff team surrendered 71 yards on two returns with a long of 51 yards. The kickoff team also got a big break when Derek Wacker recovered a kickoff at the Iowa 26. Jacory Barney had a fumbled punt return that didn’t count, then fumbled twice on one that did before having a 28-yard return that was a net 13-yarder after a personal foul penalty.
Nebraska kicker Kyle Cunanan makes a 31-yard field goal against Iowa. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN
Nineteen players were honored on Senior Day and they should be thanked for their blood, sweat and effort during their tenure in Lincoln. We will find out by Monday where the Huskers land for their bowl game. It will be interesting to see who will be available to play and who will opt for the NFL or the portal. As I mentioned above, we have no idea what the squad will look like next year. Will Rhule find and pay the coin for offensive and defensive line help? Will we go after a running back if Johnson doesn’t return. Will Raiola return for his junior season? Lots of questions with nothing definitive at this point. Rhule was hired based on his record to show year after year improvement because of his capacity to develop talent. The results thus far are underwhelming, but here’s to hoping for better things to come. Getting blown out by the Ditch Chickens definitely sours one’s perspective. Go Big Red!!
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