Lang
11/29/24
The University of Iowa football team overcame a brutal first half on offense to keep the Heroes Trophy in a 13-10 back-and-forth win over Nebraska Friday night at Kinnick Stadium.
Nebraska scored the only points of the first quarter with a 31-yard field goal on its opening drive. The score remained 3-0 until the Cornhuskers added a one-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the 2nd quarter to make it 10-0 at halftime.
Iowa only had 20 offensive yards in the first half compared to Nebraska’s 182. Starting quarterback Jackson Stratton was 2-for-7 for eight yards, while running back Kaleb Johnson ran 10 times for just 16 yards.
Nebraksa missed a 34-yard field goal on its opening drive of the second half.
The Hawkeyes would later recover a fumbled punt on the Cornhusker 4 yard line, but Iowa could only muster a field goal for their first points of the game, making it 10-3 Nebraska after 3.
The Hawkeyes’ opening play of the 4th quarter saw Johnson break away for a 72-yard game-tying touchdown after catching a short pass from Stratton.
The two teams remained deadlocked at 10 until there was 20 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter, when Max Llewellyn recovered a Nebraska fumble during a sack at the Cornhusker 20. That set up a game-winning 52-yard Drew Stevens field goal and a 13-10 Hawkeye win.
Iowa ends the regular season at 8-4, 6-3 in the Big Ten. The team now awaits its bowl fate, which will be announced a week from Sunday.
Pat Harty and Tom Suter will recap last night’s game on “The Suterman Show”, Saturday morning at 9 on The Mighty 1630 KCJJ. Then Coach Don Patterson will giv ehis assessment of Friday night’s win on the next Hawkfanatic.com segment Monday morning at 9 on The Mighty 1630 KCJJ.