Iowa rallies to beat Nebraska football 13-10 on walk-off field goal

IOWA CITY — It was never going to be easy for the Nebraska football team to end its season on a high note and take down its rivals to the East. But for at least 30 minutes on Friday night, it looked like the Huskers would do just that. Dominant defense and a resurgent offense showed up early, powering a first-half shutout in which Nebraska looked like it might run away with a win.

Iowa football, a consistent bastion of success within the Big Ten Conference, simply doesn’t let things like that happen. The Hawkeyes instead scored 13 unanswered points to deliver a striking loss to the Huskers in their final regular season game. Iowa's Drew Stevens delivered the final blow on a 52-yard field goal as time expired to seal a 13-10 win for the Hawkeyes.



The win marked Iowa’s ninth in the last 10 meetings between the two programs. Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola fumbled when sacked with 20 seconds left, setting the Hawkeyes up on the Nebraska 36. Before Iowa (8-4, 6-3) could put together a dramatic comeback, it first had to play a disastrous first half in which it gained just one first down.

Down to its fourth-string quarterback, Jackson Stratton, Iowa simply found itself unable to move the ball against a tenacious Husker effort on defense. Nebraska (6-6, 3-6) entered the matchup knowing what to expect from Iowa – a steady dose of running back Kaleb Johnson, who’d handled 35 carries just one week ago. The Hawkeyes’ gameplan showed cracks from the get-go, however.

Nebraska stuffed Johnson twice, followed by a Stratton incompletion for a three-and-out which set the tone for the Iowa offense. Johnson, the Big Ten’s leading rusher by a wide margin, gained just 1 yard on his first five rushing attempts. The Hawkeyes weren’t without chances – Stratton missed a wide-open wide receiver on a third-down throw and Johnson was stopped by linebacker John Bullock on a third-and-short – but couldn’t move the chains throughout the game’s first 30 minutes.

Iowa gained just one first down during the first half, an 11-yard Johnson carry which came early in the second quarter. The Hawkeyes went 0-for-6 on third down, punting six times in six tries as they gained just 20 yards on 20 plays before the break. All those punts meant Iowa could play its usual field position game, pinning Nebraska deep on one occasion while gaining advantageous position for its own drives.

Iowa could do nothing with those chances, even punting from just over midfield in a decision that drew scattered boos from the Hawkeye crowd. Nebraska still had several punts of its own, but two long, well-executed scoring drives showed the Huskers’ continued growth under offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen. Sophomore running back Emmett Johnson, who played a key role in NU’s 44-point outburst a week ago, again ran hard and effectively behind a punishing Husker offensive line.

A 10-play scoring drive ended in a 31-yard John Hohl field goal on Nebraska’s opening possession, and that 3-0 lead held for most of the first half. Four consecutive punts later and NU put together another long 12-play, 74-yard scoring drive which finished in the end zone. Controlling the ball and the clock prior to halftime, freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola steadily marched the Huskers down the field by gaining two first downs with his arm and one with his legs.

With defensive linemen Ty Robinson and Elijah Jeudy on the field as lead blockers, running back Dante Dowdell powered in a 1-yard rushing score late in the second quarter. With Nebraska leading 10-0 at the half, Iowa’s chances of a late comeback appeared dire given its early struggles on offense. However, the Hawkeyes’ tried and tested formula of limiting their own mistakes and forcing them from opponents got in the way.

An 11-play march down the field after halftime from the Nebraska offense ended without points when a bad snap doomed Hohl’s 34-yard kick from the start. And when Iowa soon had to punt on a drive of its own, a Nebraska miscue led to its first points of the game. Punt returner Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda nearly touched an Iowa punt but pulled away at the last second, leading to a mad scramble for the ball in which linebacker Vincent Shavers’ touch ultimately gave Iowa the ball inside the Nebraska 5-yard line.

The Blackshirts, which hadn’t been beaten all game long, stood strong again in the biggest of moments. Three Iowa plays went nowhere and the Hawkeyes settled for a 20-yard field goal instead — points which placed Nebraska in a one-score game with a 10-3 lead to its name. And in the blink of an eye, a 10-point Nebraska lead had quickly become zero.

Johnson, who’d been bottled up by the Husker defense all evening, turned a routine pass up the sideline into a highlight reel play. Dancing to stay inbounds and avoid several Nebraska tackle attempts, Johnson bounced off contact and sprinted home free for a 72-yard passing score. A 10-10 tie game for much of the fourth quarter eventually broke Iowa’s way when Max Llewellyn sacked Raiola and forced the ball out.

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