The rivalry continues
Nebraska plays Iowa in the fourth game of the season
The Cornhuskers have been preparing since last week’s game against Illinois and have changed their lineup to adjust to Iowa’s difference makers. Frost was looking forward to the game against Iowa, and even though they didn’t have the outcome they wanted, he believes they can improve. “The team had a solid chance of winning this week’s game against Iowa but we made some mistakes,” Frost said in a postgame interview. “It was great to see us come out fast this week, and although we lost, our defense played their hearts out and gave it their all.”
December 1, 2020
On November 27, at 12 p.m., the Nebraska Cornhuskers took on the Iowa Hawkeyes in the fourth game of the season. Iowa was favored to win the game by 14 points, but the Huskers had a chance to turn their season around by defeating the Hawkeyes.
The first quarter started off slow with a few three and outs. About three minutes in, Iowa senior tight end Shaun Beyer made a leaping grab that got Iowa into field goal range. The kick was taken by Iowa kicker Keith Duncan and was good for three points. After several tackles on both sides, an Iowa punt return changed the momentum on the field. Iowa’s sophomore quarterback Spencer Petras started to get into a rhythm and completed a few passes, ultimately leading to a touchdown. Iowa’s sophomore wide receiver Tyrone Tracy Jr. made the six-yard catch and got his first touchdown of the season. Rounding out the quarter, Nebraska decided to put in freshman backup quarterback Luke McCaffrey, and he brought the ball to the Hawkeyes 29-yard line.
“We’re thankful for the learning experiences we’ve got this season and will take them into account progressing throughout the next couple games,” McCaffrey said in a pregame interview. “Moving forward from week four, we need to make plays cleaner and strive to improve on certain skills from the previous week.”
The second quarter began with Nebraska scoring three points and giving the ball back to Iowa. On the Hawkeyes’ drive they missed two passes and undershot a run. This forced them to punt the ball back to Nebraska where their kicker Connor Culp hit another 30 yarder. With the ball in the hand of the Hawkeyes, they completed several passes for 55 yards over a time span of five minutes and 54 seconds. This resulted in Iowa scoring a field goal making the score 6-13. Right before halftime, Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez scored a one-yard rushing touchdown. The score ending out the first half was all tied up at 13-13.
“We can definitely improve in many areas like getting open on routes, and we will attempt to build off of what we learned this game,” wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson said in a pregame interview. “We have a lot of hidden talent from some of the new guys, and they are constantly trying to prove themselves and get the coaches to trust them. This is beneficial to the team and good to know moving forward.”
The next half began with Nebraska running back Rahmir Johnson scoring a 12-yard rushing touchdown. Following this, Iowa got the ball back, and after converting the critical fourth down, Mekhi Sargent punched it in the end-zone from two yards out. The next drive resulted in Iowa taking down Martinez in the backfield on a third down play and Nebraska punting the ball. On the last drive of the quarter, Nebraska forced Iowa to give up three downs and go four and out, ultimately ending the quarter at 20-20.
“We played a difficult team and we definitely had chances to win, but we needed to button some things up and make plays more precise,” Nebraska head coach Scott Frost said in a pre game interview. “We can’t allow our team to miss any more important opportunities. Our team needs to be catching every ball and staying calm throughout the whole game against Iowa.”
Rounding out the game was the fourth quarter and with it came a nail-biting ending. At the start of the quarter, the Hawkeyes scored a field goal making the score 20-23 Iowa leading. After two more forced punts on each side, the Hawkeyes had a chance for seven but were stopped and got three more on the board. Iowa then proceeded to stop the Cornhuskers again and kicked a 51-yard field goal. Just shy of two minutes left on the clock, Nebraska was driving down the field with momentum and suddenly their flow was halted. A Hawkeye lineman tackled Martinez in the backfield as he was throwing the ball and another Iowa lineman caught the ball. The pic ultimately ended the game with a score of 20-26 Hawkeyes up.
Nebraska will have their next game against Purdue on December 5, and the Hawkeyes will be back in action the same day against Illinois. Iowa had maintained the rivalry trophy (Heroes Trophy) for five years in a row and this win creates a streak of six.
