Still, one can’t deny it’s pretty much the most fascinating game that could be drummed up for a Husker team arriving at the final week of the season with a losing record.
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The Hawkeyes aren’t flashy. A loss, even with a chance at a conference title next week, keeps them out. With defense. With smart, fundamental play and efficiency in areas that plagued it as a program just fewer than 11 months ago.
The Huskers fell to 5-7 with a 28-20 loss to Iowa (12-0) Friday at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. “They lost some good players off last year’s team, a No. 1 draft pick off the line and a couple good defensive players”.
“I’m from Tennessee and I have a big family, everybody was back home celebrating Thanksgiving”, Beathard said. “It’s just a methodical approach to football and they know what they’re doing”.
The teams then traded punts before the Huskers got the ball back at the Iowa 21 with 1:11 left on the clock in the first half. The Hawkeyes did not convert a third down Friday in nine attempts. But aside from a Desmond King muffed punt that Nebraska turned into a touchdown, Ferentz and Co. didn’t do things to hurt themselves all day long. The Huskers’ comeback charge couldn’t gain momentum with Armstrong’s interceptions unplugging them.
Iowa’s Parker Hesse intercepts the pass from Tommy Armstrong and returns in for a touchdown in the second quarter. His interception in the third quarter set up Washington State’s only touchdown, but was the only mistake Browning made.
The Hawks had an answer for everything Nebraska did. Held to 29 yards rushing in the first half, Gaskin ran for 67 yards in the third quarter alone and plowed in for a 5-yard TD on the first play of the fourth quarter and a 31-10 Washington lead. Friday put the memories of 2014’s ugly 7-6 finish to rest for good. “But we’ve been trying to get there for 17 years”. “These guys have handled it week by week”. At 12-0, this team has earned the right to answer its critics.
What seems clear by Iowa’s successful season is how thin the margin in college football really is now.
A win over any of those three opponents would all but assure the Hawkeyes of one of the four spot in the second edition of the College Football Playoff.
But after a 3-6 start, Nebraska defeated previously unbeaten Michigan State in Lincoln on November 7 and posted a convincing road win over Rutgers a week later.
No matter if the Hawkeyes face Michigan, Michigan State or Ohio State, there’s a strong likelihood Iowa will be the underdog. Following the play, Iowa’s sideline was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The Hawkeyes are through the regular season with an unblemished record. While the Cornhuskers have won their last two games, Armstrong has thrown five touchdowns to five interceptions during that span. The game also airs as a live stream online.
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“So I thought, A, based on their own team this was an unknown coming in, so that was a big surprise coming in but I thought the West was winnable by anybody including Iowa”. But at this point, do you count Iowa out against anyone? It’s well past time for America to embrace that reality.
