Nebraska
How to Watch Nebraska Football vs. Iowa: Breakdown, Preview, TV Channel
Breathe, Husker Nation.
The Nebraska football team is bowl eligible. For the first time since 2016 – when Mike Riley was still the head coach and Tommy Armstrong was the NU signal caller – the Huskers are headed to the postseason. All it took was a 44-25 beatdown of rival Wisconsin as Nebraska broke a 10-game losing streak to the Badgers.
The offense flourished in the second game under new offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen as freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola woke up from his slumber with a 28-for-38 showing with 293 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore Emmett Johnson added nearly 200 yards from scrimmage with 113 of those coming from the ground (on 16 carries) along with tying a team-high 85 receiving yards on six catches. The game ended with Nebraska gaining 473 yards in total offense with the most points scored in the Matt Rhule era.
Now, with the monkey off their back and a bowl secured, the Huskers turn around to face their rival Iowa as NU plays on Black Friday for the 35th consecutive season.
Here’s all you need to know for Friday’s primetime showdown.
How to Follow Along
Iowa Scout
Head Coach: Kirk Ferentz | 26th season | 203-123 (.623) Iowa Record; 215-144 (.599) Career HC Record | AP College Football Coach OTY (2002), Walter Camp Coach of the Year (2002), 4x B1G Coach OTY (2002, 2004, 2009, 2015) | 2x Big Ten Championship (2002, 2004), 3x Big Ten West Division titles (2015, 2021, 2023).
2023 Record: 10-4 (7-2 B1G, 1st B1G West) | 4x All-Americans | B1G Defensive Back OTY, B1G Punter OTY, 3x All-Big Ten First Team, 1x All-Big Ten Second Team, 5x All-Big Ten Third Team, 9x All-Big Ten Honorable Mentions | L, 35-0 to Tennessee in Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.
All-Time Series: Nebraska leads 30-21-3 (Nov. 24, 2023 last meeting, 13-10, Iowa).
Fun Fact: The past six meetings between Nebraska and Iowa have been decided by seven or fewer points, including three games by three points. The total margin in the past six games is 29 points.
Key Returners: Kaleb Johnson, RB, Jr. | Cade McNamara, QB, Gr. | Jazuin Patterson, RB, Soph. | Addison Ostrenga, TE, Jr. | Seth Anderson, WR, Jr. | Luke Lachey, TE, Sr. | Jay Higgins, LB, Gr. | Nick Jackson, LB, Gr. | Sebastian Castro, DB, Gr. | Quinn Schulte, DB, Gr. | Deontae Craig, DL, Sr. | Ethan Hurkett, DL, Sr. | Yahya Black, DL, Sr. | Aaron Graves, DL, Jr. | Max Llewellyn, DL, Jr. | Drew Stevens, K, Jr. | Mason Richman, OL, Sr. | Beau Stephens, OL, Jr. | Connor Colby, OL, Sr. | Logan Jones, OL, Sr. | Dunker, OL, Jr.
Key Additions: Brendan Sullivan, QB, Jr. (Northwestern) | Jacob Gill, WR, Jr. (Northwestern).
Key Departures: Cooper DeJean, DB (Philadelphia Eagles, 2nd Rd.) | Erick All, TE (Cincinnati Bengals, 4th Rd.) | Tory Taylor, P (Chicago Bears, 4th Rd) | Logan Lee, DL, (Pittsburgh Steelers, 6th Rd.) | Deacon Hill, QB, Jr. (Utah Tech) | Leshon Williams, RB, Sr. (Redshirt & Transfer) | Nico Ragaini, WR (Eligibility) | Kaleb Brown, WR, Jr. (Redshirt & Transfer) | Diante Vines, WR, Sr. (Old Dominion) | Joe Evans, LB (Eligibility).
Outlook: Aside from the shortened 2020 season, Iowa locked up its 11th season in a row with at least seven wins under long-time head coach Kirk Ferentz. It’s also the seventh consecutive campaign where the Hawkeyes will finish above .500 in conference play. Coming off a 29-13 win over Maryland last week, there’s not much to play for entering Friday for both teams aside from rivalry bragging rights and a better bowl position.
Much like its been over the course of this 14-year stretch of games, whoever wins in the trenches will come out on top. The running attack of Iowa versus the rushing defense of the Blackshirts will more than likely be the decider. The Hawkeyes are first in the Big Ten and 13th nationally with 213.5 rushing yards per game with first-year offensive coordinator Tim Lester calling the plays. Kaleb Johnson has come on as one of the premier running backs in the country with 1,492 yards on the season (135.6 YPG) with 21 touchdowns. Kamari Moulton (381 yards, 2 TDs) and Jaziun Patterson (235 yards, 2 TDs) will get some carries, but Johnson is the star.
All other offensive categories fall short, however, as the passing offense (133.2 YPG) ranks 128th in the country, total offense sits at 101st and the scoring offense ranks 55th nationwide. Part of that has to be the rotating carousel of quarterback, which has been severely affected by injuries. Cade McNamara – who’s in his second season in Iowa City after transferring from Michigan – will make his first start since Oct. 26 against Northwestern. McNamara had to make a statement last week before the Maryland game due to rumors swirling he had quit on the team, but rather he was still dealing with concussion symptoms and wouldn’t be ready until Nebraska.
He’ll certainly have more upside than walk-on Jackson Stratton who started against the Terrapins, but the amount of impact he can have is questionable. That’s where the defense will have to come in for support. Phil Parker’s group is once again one of the best in the country, despite being down in comparison to past years. The Hawkeyes are top 40 in most categories including rushing defense (26th, 115.1), pass defense (39th, 196.6), total defense (17th, 311.7) and scoring defense (12th, 17.7). Iowa also dominates in turnover margin, ranking first in the Big Ten and eighth in the country with a +11 margin.
Linebackers Jay Higgins and Nick Jackson form the foundation of this defense. The two have combined for 186 total tackles as Higgins (106 tackles) also has a sack and 1.5 TFL while Jackson (80 tackles) has added 2.5 sacks and five TFLs.
The defensive line is pretty stout as well with Aaron Graves leading the way with a team-high five sacks on the season with Max Llewellyn (4.5) and Ethan Hurkett (4.5) both not far behind. Higgins has a team-leading four interceptions with fellow defensive backs Jermari Harris and Quinn Schulte adding three interceptions each.
The Hawkeyes had to say goodbye to punter Tory Taylor after he was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the NFL, and now have freshman Rhys Dakin on punt duty with a 44.9 yard average. Plus, All-Big Ten placekicker is back and is 17-for-20 for the season.
The impact of McNamara is the wildcard in this one, and the Hawkeyes hopes of moving the ball against a tough Nebraska run defense will prove to be difficult if they can’t get anything going through the air. Continuing the trend of past games, this one looks destined for a low-scoring, intense, cold season finale.
With Holgorsen, Raiola and the Husker offense in some sort of groove, I like the chances of Nebraska pulling off its second-straight win in Iowa City.
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What the hell happened to my life?
My inner monologue was deafening in the stillness of the Nebraska morning. I hadn’t heard myself this clearly since high school five years ago, before I pushed off into life as an actress in New York City. I couldn’t be sure what made my thoughts so loud—maybe it was whiplash, my abrupt move from filming HBO’s High Maintenance to my childhood stomping grounds.
SEWARD, Neb. — Early childhood educators from Nebraska and surrounding states will gather at Concordia University, Nebraska, for the school’s annual Early Childhood Conference on June 7-8, 2026, with an optional pre-conference also planned on campus.
“The theme for this year’s event is Unshakable!” said Concordia Nebraska Assistant Professor of Education Dr. Drew Gerdes. “We know that teachers are hard workers; teaching is challenging in many ways but also rewarding. At Concordia, we have a strong history in developing and supporting teachers, and this conference is one way that we can connect with those in the field, support and encourage them, and offer opportunities to ‘fill their toolbox’ with new ideas and strategies.”
Conference keynote speaker Raelene Ostberg, founder of Thriving Together, will address attendees about finding and keeping joy in their work with students, families and colleagues. Thriving Together is an organization dedicated to supporting early childhood educators.
The Sunday evening dinner keynote speaker will be Rev. Dustin Lappe ’97, who serves at Messiah Lutheran Church and School in Lincoln, Nebraska. Organizers said Lappe has years of experience as both an early childhood teacher and a pastor.
“This conference will feature many break-out sessions on a variety of topics,” Gerdes said. “From the value of music in learning to differentiated learning to early literacy skills, participants will be able to hear from veterans in the field and leaders in education who have a great passion for sharing and helping others grow.”
Concordia Nebraska first hosted an early childhood conference decades ago under the leadership of then-program director Dr. Leah Serck ’58.
“Educators from Nebraska and many surrounding states look forward to this event each year, which has a rich history of bringing in high-quality keynote speakers and valuable topics,” Gerdes said.
More information, including pre-conference and conference details and pricing, is available at cune.edu/ecc. Early bird discounted registration is available until May 22.
Nebraska
Starting fires helped contain a Nebraska wildfire — and ignited another – Flatwater Free Press
This story is made possible through a partnership between Flatwater Free Press and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
As the fast-moving blaze rolled toward Fire Chief Jason Schneider’s district in Cozad, he and his crew faced a literal uphill battle.
The Cottonwood Fire was tearing through the Loess Canyons, an area defined by steep slopes, narrow valleys, few roads and pockets of invasive eastern red cedar trees, which can throw embers and ash — and even explode — when they burn.
“You think you would have it put out, and you keep on moving north, and you’d look back south and it’s just going again behind you,” Schneider said.
But the situation started to improve when they connected with a prescribed burn group. They had equipment and showed Schneider and his volunteer crew how to use fire to contain the wildfire.
“It would have burned a lot more if they hadn’t showed up and helped us get it stopped where we did,” Schneider said.
Already, 2026 has marked Nebraska’s worst year on record for wildfires. As of May 6, wildfires have burned about 981,502 acres and dealt a blow to ranchers. They also have brought to the forefront the best arguments for and against a controversial and centuries-old land-management practice: Using fire to fight fire.
In March, the Cottonwood Fire, contained by prescribed burn techniques and past prescribed fires, made the case for the practice. In the Nebraska National Forest that same month, heavy winds turned the smoldering remnants of a prescribed burn into the Road 203 wildfire, bringing to life some landowners’ and managers’ worst fears.
The debate over prescribed burns had been simmering long before those wildfires and has grown louder in recent years as more Nebraskans turn to the practice. The Nebraska Prescribed Fire Council estimates that during modern times, 2025 saw the most acres burned in a single year by prescribed fire.
But in areas of the state like the western Sandhills, the practice has sparked backlash.
“There was a (prescribed burn) group that tried to establish a couple of years ago up around the Tryon, Mullen area up in there. And they almost lynched that group,” Keystone-Lemoyne Fire and Rescue Chief Ralph Moul said. “They said, ‘No, we do not want fire in the Sandhills,’ because there’s nothing to stop it up here.”
Despite the fear, there is overwhelming evidence that prescribed burns, when done correctly, can help prevent massive wildfires by burning up volatile fuels like cedar trees. They can make the land ecologically healthier and save ranchers money.
“The wildfires you’ve seen here in Nebraska the last few years are also a consequence of removing fire from the landscape,” said Kent Pfeiffer, program manager for the Northern Prairies Land Trust. “You don’t get rid of fire, you just change the nature of it … instead of having frequent, low-intensity fires, you end up with infrequent, high-intensity fires.”
The issue may be growing more urgent as the state faces dual threats. Large swaths of Nebraska’s native grasslands are in danger of becoming cedar woodlands — an already costly headache for ranchers. Meanwhile, climate change is bringing more extreme conditions, including intense stretches of drier and hotter weather that can lead to more destructive wildfires.
Drought conditions and major wildfires
“It’s time to innovate a bit more on the wildfire and prescribed fire side,” said Dirac Twidwell, a rangeland and fire ecologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “What we know is that overall, our fire management is not working.”
‘I burned them’
Tucker Thompson was in his 30s when he first helped out on a prescribed burn on another person’s property near Gothenburg back in the early 2000s. The rancher, who summers cattle in the Loess Canyons, knew some neighbors would be upset, but cedar trees were starting to sprout across his land. He wanted to get ahead of the problem, and he was curious.
By today’s standards, the group’s equipment was basic and their knowledge limited. Even though everything went fine, Thompson left thinking the entire practice was insane. He went home and took a chainsaw to the cedar trees across about 400 acres of his property.
“And then five years later, they all start coming back. Ten years later, it’s like, I have no choice. There’s no way of killing these dang things, so I burned them,” Thompson said.
Now, Thompson continues the practice and is a member of two burn groups. He helped firefighters contain the Cottonwood Fire, even as it ravaged his grazing lands.
Prescribed burns “decrease the fuel load in these canyons, so we can control these fires to some degree,” Thompson said.
The Loess Canyons area has one of the most advanced prescribed fire cultures in the entire country, Twidwell said. It has reduced the risk of catastrophic fire and made the land more suitable for grazing, which has boosted landowners’ profits, he said.
Up until the last 150 years, fire was common in Nebraska. Wildfires would naturally control species like eastern red cedar. Indigenous peoples have also used fire for a variety of reasons in this region.
Prescribed burns are common in other Great Plains states like Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. In Nebraska, it’s more prevalent in the eastern and central parts of the state. The benefits extend beyond fire protection — it also increases biodiversity and wildlife. Even the grass that comes back after a burn is preferred by the cattle.
More than 92,700 acres burned in prescribed fires between Jan. 1 and June 30 last year, according to a survey of 26 organizations by the Nebraska Prescribed Fire Council.
But conducting these burns requires a lot of planning, post-burn monitoring, money, machinery and manpower. And even when it comes together, a change in weather can cancel the whole operation at a moment’s notice.
In order to conduct a land management burn, a landowner or tenant has to apply for a permit and submit a plan to their local fire chief, who decides whether to waive Nebraska’s open burn ban. By law, the plan requires serious documentation, including a list of on-hand equipment and a description of weather conditions needed to burn safely.
Fairbury Fire Chief Judd Stewart’s jurisdiction is filled with landowners and managers who use prescribed burns. Stewart says he had to cancel almost 50 burn permits in March when Gov. Jim Pillen ordered fire chiefs statewide to temporarily stop issuing them during the wildfires. Stewart wishes the governor would have given more consideration to areas like southeast Nebraska, where fire danger was lower. Those areas still have heavy fuel loads, and the window to burn is closing.
“As we approach mid- to late summer, when we start getting high temperatures … that vegetation will carry fire again, and now we’ve got those heavy fuel loads that are going to be hard to contain,” Stewart said.
Austin Klemm, a board member of the burn group that helped Schneider and others contain the Cottonwood Fire, said he is working with about six landowners who have invested roughly $250,000 to $275,000 to plan a burn that might not happen this year due to the ban.
“Some of these guys have invested tens of thousands of dollars in prep work to be able to burn,” Klemm said. “These guys have deferred grazing, did not graze at all last year, had to go find a place to stick cows or feed cows all last year.”
‘It’s dangerous’
Becky Potmesil doesn’t have to look far to see the devastation wildfire can cause. Potmesil raises cattle in the Alliance area of the Panhandle, on the western edge of the Sandhills. To the south, the Morrill Fire burned an estimated 642,000 acres, making it the largest on record in the state’s history. To the southeast, the Ashby Fire burned another 36,000 acres.
The winds have blown away the black, burnt grass, leaving behind only sand dunes. It looks like a moonscape, she said.
Drought conditions in 2026
“Anybody who’d do a prescribed burn out here in the (western) Sandhills in western Nebraska is crazy, and it’s dangerous,” she said. While she sees how there could be benefits in some Sandhills meadows, she doesn’t think it’s worth the risk in her area.
Moul, the Keystone-Lemoyne fire chief, is cautious about issuing burn permits in his Sandhills district. He likes for there to either be snow or green grass on the ground. The Sandhills have fewer fire breaks, less infrastructure and more extreme weather conditions like high-speed winds than other parts of the state, Moul and Potmesil noted.
Moul, an incident commander on the Morrill Fire, understands that prescribed fire has its place. But after seeing the damage caused by prescribed burn escapes over his career, he said fire chiefs shouldn’t allow them on or right before red flag days in their districts. Most of the burn groups know what they’re doing, Moul said, but a few have convinced local fire chiefs to issue permits on red flag days so they can “get the best kill of the trees.”
“But it was my experience when I worked with the state that we went to a lot of escaped fires because of prescribed burns that got away,” Moul said.
The Road 203 wildfire started as a prescribed burn in the Bessey Ranger District of the Nebraska National Forest. More than a day after the fire ignitions ended, heavy winds created a spot fire outside the original boundary as firefighters mopped up and patrolled the area, according to the Forest Service. The agency said 99.84% of its prescribed burns go according to plan. This one didn’t.
According to the Nebraska Prescribed Fire Council’s survey last year, 1.6% of burns escaped and required outside assistance, primarily from volunteer fire departments. Changing weather patterns and the spread of cedar trees are the primary reasons for escapes, the Fire Council said in an email.
“When the gap between prescribed fire acres and fuel load increases, it also increases fire behavior in both prescribed fire and wildfires causing us to adapt to riskier burns with increased planning and equipment.”
When Twidwell came to Nebraska in 2013, he was told prescribed fire would never be used in the Sandhills. Since then, he has seen multiple burns happen there as the culture continues to shift. Some of this is due to the spread of eastern red cedars in the area.
He knows some landowners will never be convinced, and he understands their concern. But beyond protecting the grasslands, Twidwell believes Nebraska needs to have more conversations on how to mitigate large wildfires by using fire.
“Everybody understands … the wildfire risk playing out,” he said. “Fewer understand the benefits and why certain groups are using prescribed fire.”
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