Preview, Prediction: Iowa-Nebraska Football

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Its destiny in its fingers, Iowa performs host to Nebraska Friday within the regular-season finale for each groups. A Hawkeye victory means a return journey to Indianapolis for the Huge Ten Championship Recreation. A loss by the house workforce opens the door for Purdue and Illinois. 

The Hawkeyes (7-4 general, 5-3 Huge Ten) are using a four-game successful streak, whereas the Huskers are losers of 5 in a row. Iowa owns seven consecutive victories on this sequence. 

The strain clearly rests on the Hawkeye sideline on this recreation. Nebraska’s marketing campaign ends Friday, and its seek for a brand new full-time head coach continues. 

This Iowa squad seems ready for the second, however upsets occur throughout faculty soccer weekly. This a trophy recreation, one which has been determined by a mean of 4.7 factors throughout its final 4 chapters. 

Final season in Lincoln, the Huskers (3-8, 2-6) limped into this contest with a 1-7 convention file and took Iowa to the wire. The division-champion Hawkeyes wanted late-game, special-teams’ heroics to drag out a 28-21 victory. 

Friday is Senior Day at Iowa, including to the feelings. It takes a again seat to the duty at hand, says senior quarterback Spencer Petras:

“Our focus is on the opponent we’re enjoying as a result of they’re proficient and so they play us robust yearly. If we need to obtain our objective, we will want a win on Friday, and there is no time to consider anything.” 

Nebraska options Texas switch Casey Thompson at quarterback after a long term by Adrian Martinez, who was thriving at Kansas State till an harm hit two weeks in the past. Thompson (6-0, 195) is finishing 63.0 % of his passes for two,129 yards and 14 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. He has 5 scores speeding however minus-six yards on the bottom due to Husker sign callers being sacked 31 occasions.  

LSU switch Trey Palmer (6-1, 190) serves as Thompson’s prime goal. The junior receiver ranks fourth within the Huge Ten in receptions (62), receiving yards (878) and landing catches (7). Fellow wideout Marcus Washington (28-419) and tight finish Travis Vokolek (20-240-2) issue into the passing recreation. 

Florida State switch Anthony Grant leads the Nebraska speeding assault. He averages 82.6 yards per recreation (4.5 a carry) on the bottom with six TDs. 

“They have some good athletes,” Iowa cornerback Cooper DeJean mentioned. “They’ve some switch guys. They’ve some good receivers, good (working) again. Their offensive line performs properly. So, they are a well-rounded offense. We will should play properly, play disciplined, do our job.” 

The Huskers rank eleventh within the league for scoring offense (22.5 factors per recreation) and tenth in whole offense (345.5 yards per recreation). Iowa sits a thirteenth (17.5) and 14th (253.7). 

Defensively, the Hawkeyes are available fourth amongst convention foes in scoring in opposition to (13.5 PPG), whereas Nebraska checks in twelfth (28.5). Iowa is third in whole protection (273.3 YPG) with the Huskers at thirteenth (427.2). 

“Should you have a look at their protection, for those who have a look at their beginning 22, there’s not one switch in there,” mentioned Nebraska interim head coach Mickey Joseph, who changed the fired Scott Frost in September. “So that they have all been raised by means of this system. Like I’ve been saying at these press conferences, it’s important to elevate them by means of this system. That coach has stored them in this system, so these youngsters have been within the system three years, 4 years, 5 years, and so they haven’t modified their system.”

Junior linebacker Luke Reimer leads the Nebraska protection with 86.0 tackles (38 solo, 3.5 for loss). He has a sack, an interception, a quarterback hurry and 5 cross breakups. Junior edge Garrett Nelson is having fun with a pleasant season with 9.0 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, 4 quarterback hurries, two cross breakups and a compelled fumble. 

“They’ve huge guys up entrance. They play exhausting,” Hawkeye offensive deal with Jack Plumb mentioned. “They’re sound defensively. It will likely be a very good check for us up entrance.” 

Husker punter Brian Buschini is averaging 44.5 yards on 62 makes an attempt with 12 being downed contained in the opponent 20 yard line and 22 honest catches with 16 touring 50-plus yards. Kicker Timmy Bleekroad is 8 for 10 on field-goal tries, together with 2 of three from 40 or extra yards. 

Nebraska ranks nineteenth nationally in kick protection (17.3 yards per return) and a hundredth in punt protection (10.1). The Hawkeyes are available at 22 in overlaying kicks (17.4) and nineteenth overlaying punts (3.7). 

When the Huskers joined the Huge Ten for the 2011 season, some folks questioned how aggressive the border matchup with Iowa can be. Whereas the Hawkeyes ranked as a constant winner, Nebraska was thought-about by many observers to be a blue blood program. 

The Huskers took three of the primary 4 conferences with their new convention counterpart. They’ve not crushed Iowa since ’14, when then AD Shawn Eichorst uttered his now-famous line when requested about altering head coaches after that marketing campaign. 

“Within the remaining evaluation. I needed to consider the place Iowa was,” he mentioned as a method of minimizing a win in opposition to the Hawkeyes and it not being sufficient to save lots of Bo Pelini’s job as head coach. 

Since that remark, Iowa is 70-29 general and 47-22 within the Huge Ten with two division championships. The Huskers are 37-56 general and 24-45 within the convention with no titles. 

Friday, we’ll see if the Hawkeyes can prolong Nebraska’s distress or the Huskers can present indicators of life in probably preserving their rival from a second consecutive West crown. 

TV ANNOUNCERS: Brandon Gaudin, Jake Butt, and Rick Pizzo on BTN. 

SERIES: Friday’s recreation is the 53rd assembly within the all-time sequence. Nebraska holds a 29-20-3 benefit within the sequence that started with a 22-0 Iowa victory in 1891. Iowa has received seven straight and eight of the final 9 conferences. 

The Hawkeyes have outscored the Huskers 236-137 in the course of the seven-game successful streak. The 56 factors in 2017 are essentially the most within the sequence’ 52-game historical past. The 4 conferences since 2017 have all been determined by seven factors or much less.

BETTING LINES: Iowa opened as a 9.0-point favourite within the Vegas Insider consensus Sunday evening. It rose to the Huskers +10.5 Monday morning. The entire opened at 40.5 and dropped to 37.5 Monday morning.

TRENDS

-Nebraska is 5-1-1 In opposition to The Unfold (ATS) in its final 7 video games in November.

-Underneath is 4-0 in Cornhuskers’ final 4 video games general.

-Iowa is 4-0 ATS in its final 4 video games general.

-Underneath is 5-1 in Hawkeyes’ final 6 residence video games.

NEBRASKA PLAYERS TO WATCH

–Trey Palmer, WR – Palmer has been an affect newcomer in his first season in Lincoln. The switch from LSU set a Nebraska single-game file with 237 receiving yards on seven catches at Purdue, with landing catches of 37 and 72 yards. Palmer was a member of the watch lists for the Biletnikoff Award and the Paul Hornung Award.

-Casey Thompson, QB – Thompson’s three video games with 300 or extra passing yards ties for third on the Nebraska single-season chart. The college file for 300-yard passing video games is 5 by Joe Ganz in 2008. Regardless of lacking two video games, Thompson is simply exterior of the single-season prime 10 in passing yards. He wants 295 passing yards in opposition to Iowa to crack the season prime 10.

–Luke Reimer, LB – Reimer has totaled at the least 10 tackles 9 occasions in his profession, together with twice in 2022. Henrich has recorded 4 video games with double-figure tackles. Reimer wants 14 tackles at Iowa to turn out to be the primary Husker since Lavonte David (2010-11) to have back-to-back 100-tackle seasons.

KEYS TO VICTORY

Nebraska: Drive Iowa’s offense into errors. In any other case, will probably be lengthy day for the Husker offense. It could be anyway. 

Iowa: Handle the soccer on offense then money in when protection and particular groups offers alternative.

GAME NOTES

-Husker senior edge rusher Caleb Tannor will play in his 56th recreation at Nebraska on Friday. He’s set to tie the varsity file for video games performed held by Cameron Meredith (2008-12). Tannor has performed in each recreation since arriving on campus in 2018.

-Nebraska is enjoying on Black Friday for the thirty third consecutive season courting again to 1990. The Huskers have met Iowa on Thanksgiving Friday the previous 12 seasons, and performed Colorado (1996-2010) and Oklahoma (1990-95) previous to that.

-The Huskers have scored a landing on their opening possession 5 occasions this season (NW, UND, OU, IND, MINN), together with 4 of the primary 5 video games. Most lately, the Huskers marched 75 yards in 9 performs for a landing to open the scoring in opposition to Minnesota. 

-The Nebraska roster options 17 first-year Huskers who had earlier FBS or FCS expertise earlier than 2022. The primary-year transfers got here to Nebraska with a mixed 368 video games performed and 184 begins of their faculty careers. The beginning lineups by means of 11 video games have featured 10 transfers, together with seven on offense, two on protection and each the beginning punter and place-kicker.

-By means of 11 video games, 21 gamers have made their first profession begin in a Husker uniform in 2022. The group contains 9 gamers on offense, 10 on protection and two specialists. True freshman cornerback Malcolm Hartzog is the newest first-time starter, incomes the beginning nod the previous six video games.

-Iowa’s protection surrendered 10 factors or fewer for the eighth time this season within the street win at Minnesota (and Iowa has given up 13 or much less in 9 video games). It’s the first time since 1929 that the protection has allowed 10 or fewer factors in eight video games. The 1929 Hawkeyes gave up 28 factors in your complete eight-game season.

-The Hawkeyes have received all three of their November video games this season and 14 consecutive video games within the month of Thanksgiving courting again to the 2019 season.

-Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell has seven 10-plus deal with video games this season, giving him 110 tackles this season. It’s the second straight 12 months he has 100 plus tackles as he led the nation with 143 stops a 12 months in the past.

-Hawkeye tight finish Sam LaPorta has had at the least one reception in 14 straight video games and has been Iowa’s prime receiver in 10 of 11 video games in 2022. LaPorta has a team-best 53 receptions for 601 yards and one landing. He’s main the Huge Ten in receptions and receiving yards this season amongst tight ends.

-Iowa is 2-1 in trophy video games this season. The Hawkeyes fell 10-7 to Iowa State of their first trophy recreation of ’22 – the workforce’s first loss to the Cyclones since ’14. Iowa reclaimed the Heartland Trophy on Nov. 12, downing Wisconsin, 24-10, in Kinnick Stadium and defeated Minnesota for the eighth straight time, successful 13-10, to retain the Floyd of Rosedale trophy. 

NOTABLE ALUMNI

Nebraska – Weldon Kees

Iowa – Charles F. Lynch 

HOWE I SEE IT: Look, Iowa has no enterprise shedding this recreation. That is not being disrespectful to the opponent. It means the Hawkeyes’ efficiency so far dwarfs what Nebraska has performed in ’22.  

Nebraska is 2-6 within the convention for a cause. It is a dangerous soccer workforce. Its wins got here in opposition to Indiana and Rutgers, two bottom-feeder groups within the East Division.

The Huskers haven’t got a star working again like those which have troubled Iowa this season. Saying their protection is porous can be too sort. 

It is a rivalry recreation. Nebraska ought to be motivated if the locker room is not misplaced. Perhaps it may well dangle for awhile due to these components. 

Ultimately, the higher workforce and program will win. 

PREDICTION: Iowa 24, Nebraska 13