Nebraska will play in a bowl game in 2024.

Ok, now that we’re out of that bright spot, let’s take a closer look at Iowa’s win – wait, look at this – Nebraska’s 13-10 loss to Iowa on a freezing Friday night in Iowa City.

NU led 10-0 at halftime, a performance that can only be described as dominant. Defensively, the Blackshirts held Iowa to 20 yards on 20 plays, one first down, 0-for-6 on 3rd downs, including *FIVE* 3-and-outs, and shut down the country’s second-leading rusher, Kaleb Johnson, to a tune of ten runs for 16 yards.

On offense, the Huskers had two crisp, efficient shots on goal, including the touchdown less than a minute before halftime. They also drove right down the field at the start of the second half.

Then everything is fine, right? Nebraska was on its way to a comfortable win over the rival Hawkeyes, right? Right??

Oh, boy. Not even close.

If you search a dictionary for “typical Kirk Ferentz victories,” I can’t imagine there are many better examples than this.

Under Ferentz, Iowa is usually somewhere between subpar and terrible at quarterback. They lean heavily on their running backs, their offensive line and their tight ends. They are solid defensively and are sometimes highlighted by a superstar. They don’t commit many penalties. They create sales. And they are among the special teams elite – punter, kicker, returner, coverage, everything. Does this sound familiar?

Iowa thrives on your mistakes while limiting your own. Unfortunately for the Huskers, there were plenty of mistakes in a nightmarish second half that cost Nebraska a chance at a win. Let’s take a closer look, because if you’ve gotten this far, you’re a glutton for Husker punishment, just like me…

3rd quarter, 9:26 remaining: Long snapper Aiden Flege, who has improved over the course of this season, chose a bad time to throw a ground ball back to holder Brian Buschini. Buschini couldn’t hold onto the ball well after the bad snap and John Hohl missed his first field goal attempt in ten attempts, a 34-yarder that would have made it 13-0. Oh.

3rd quarter, 6:36 left: Iowa strikes for the seventh time (!), but disaster strikes when Vincent Shavers, believing the ball touched returner Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda, tried to jump on the ball before the Hawkeyes could. It was ruled that Shavers had touched the ball first – he ultimately did not hit IGC – and replay confirmed the call, giving Iowa a new set of downs at the NU 4-yard line. After an impressive score by the Blackshirts, Iowa got the free three points and made it 10-3.

4th quarter, 3:00 p.m.: That was the big thing. I re-watched this piece about 30 times to get all the details, so you don’t have to. You’re welcome.

The aforementioned Kaleb Johnson, who averaged 135.6 rushing yards per game but was in trouble on his running plays on Friday, took a simple swing pass and asked Nebraska if they wanted to rush him, they said “No!” he scored a 72-yard touchdown reception.

Third-string Iowa quarterback Jackson Stratton took the snap from the 28-yard line on 2nd-and-13 and hit Johnson at the 20 (basically throwing him behind him), with many Husker defenders waiting down the field . Johnson ran to the right of a good block on Jimari Butler and easily parried an arm tackle attempt by Marques Buford at the 28, which was the original line of scrimmage.

At the 31, John Bullock – one of Nebraska’s best players this season – made contact with Johnson, and the best way I can describe it is that Johnson took him about five yards. However, Bullock fails to make the tackle. Instead, as he tries to rip the football, Ty Robinson and DeShon Singleton both sling their bodies toward Johnson and Bullock, without either defender getting their arms to wrap around. Much to Nebraska’s dismay, this collision essentially rips Johnson out of everyone’s control.

Now Johnson is accelerating again at the 40 on the right sideline, and Malcolm Hartzog is the only Husker ahead of him. Johnson places his right foot on the 48 and swings left to get past a flailing Hartzog in center field, who might have grabbed Johnson’s right leg if he hadn’t been dragged by MJ Sherman. Now that he was free, Johnson only had to outrun Mikai Gbayor by 50 yards to clinch the victory, which he did.

(The only Husker defenders not involved in the play were Nash Hutmacher, who gave chase after blocking at the line, and Isaac Gifford and Ceyair Wright, both downfield by a tight end and wide, respectively Receivers were blocked.

To me, Buford and Hartzog certainly could have done more to slow Johnson down, but this is mostly about Bullock, Robinson and Singleton. Three seniors on defense combined to destroy an otherwise incredible defensive performance in a split second. It was a devastating play early in the fourth quarter that undoubtedly planted that pesky little seed of doubt in the minds of Husker players, coaches and fans. All tied up, 10-10.

4Q, 7:09 left: On 2nd and 1, Dana Holgorsen calls a play designed to get a Husker receiver way up his ass. And boy, was Isaiah Neyor completely candid. The problem is that he didn’t catch the ball.

From his own 44-yard line, Dylan Raiola went under center, looked at a teammate to his right and pointed toward the end zone. He gestured to Jahmal Banks to make sure he knew he needed to get vertical as quickly as possible. Banks simply removed cover from his counterpart Neyor’s target. Neyor positioned himself on the left and crossed to the right. They were the only route runners in the play.

Raiola faked out Emmett Johnson, planted his right foot on his own 35 and delivered the ball on time and on the money as Neyor ran free to the Hawkeye 40. The ball hit him on the hands – at least he would have if it didn’t fly between them and fall harmlessly onto the grass. If he had caught it, he could have evaded the defense and Banks could have prevented a good touchdown to score a touchdown to make it 17-10. Oh.

NU ended up with a punt from Iowa’s 40, capping a scoreless drive at 5:44, the longest drive of the game.

4Q, 0:22 remaining: The bag fumbling.

After collecting the second first down of a potential game-winning drive that started at its own 20-yard line, Nebraska gets to the line on its 1st-and-10 play call – four verts. The idea was to either get close enough to score a game-winning field goal or let time run out and try their luck in overtime. (I wonder how that would have turned out. Also, does Holgorsen know NU’s overtime history?)

From their own 43, the Huskers had two receivers left and right with Emmett Johnson in the backfield. Johnson didn’t try to block and an Iowa linebacker was in man coverage over him. It was a four-man rush. And it was a disaster.

Bryce Benhart, who started 53 games at right tackle and played in 59 games – both Nebraska records – lost his pass protection role to defensive end Max Llewellyn. When Raiola looked to his left, he never saw him coming. What made matters worse was that Raiola couldn’t hold onto the football. Llewellyn shot the ball from Raiola’s right hand, both players went to the ground, and after about three seconds Llewellyn emerged holding the ball high above his head. After replay review, Iowa ball. Three plays later, they kicked a 53-yard field goal as time expired. 13-10, Iowa. Just like 2023.

(Quick aside about the fumble sequence. The White Hat announced upon spotting the ball immediately after the sack, “It is deemed on the field that the runner was down before the ball went off.” Then the clock for the fourth quarter expired . *THEN* as they went to review, White Hat announced, “The decision on the field is that the ball was free and recovered by the defense.” And finally, after the review, he said, “After the review The decision was made on the field.” Fumble, recovered by the defense is confirmed.” How or why did they change the reputation on the field?

Additionally, had Raiola been on the ground, reversing the call would have required a “clear and immediate recovery” from Iowa. Raiola had the ball all the way to the ground *AND* in his stomach while he was on the ground for a good three seconds, then the defender wrestled him away. Is this considered “clear and immediate?”

It was truly an upsetting loss for Nebraska football, compared to a plethora of close losses in recent seasons. NU outscored Iowa 334-164, stopping them on all 10 third down attempts. Iowa completed just nine plays in Husker territory, gaining just three yards on those plays, but scored six points on the two forced turnovers. Gross.

Who made the crippling mistakes? Not Iowa. That’s not what She Do. Nebraska couldn’t take an easy field goal snap. Nebraska refused to attempt a single play. Nebraska dropped a potential fourth quarter touchdown pass. Nebraska lost two fumbles.

Credit to Iowa for recovering those fumbles, to Kaleb Johnson for running his long touchdown, and to Drew Stevens for making the game-winning kick. But there’s no question that Nebraska cost itself ten points AND gave up 13 to the Hawkeyes.

You have no one to blame but yourself.

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