Nebraska falls to the Hawkeyes again to make it 10 losses in 11 years. To take a quote from Adam Carriker “Iowa is just better at what they do, than we are at what we do, unfortunately. The Trenches is where you win football games.” This is the hard truth for Husker fans the last half of the season. Nebraska has struggled mightily against teams that can run the football. The Hawkeyes did what they do and that is lean on teams and take advantage of mistakes.
The Huskers seemingly were in the game until a questionable no-call, in a targeting penalty that led to a Iowa safety which was the turning point in the game. Freshman signal caller TJ Lateef tweaked his knee before half and was not mobile, which was a big part of the Huskers game plan. Lateef struggled throwing the ball today going 9 for 24 accumulating only 69 yards through the air. Even though Lateef was turnover free, he wasn’t able to make a net positive impact for the Huskers today.
Once again, Emmett Johnson was the bright spot for the Huskers today. Gaining 217 yards on 29 carries, Johnson made up for almost 80% of Nebraska’s total yards from scrimmage. Johnson is the most valuable player to his team out of any player in the country, hands down. Johnson also acquired 22 yards receiving today.
The Huskers defense played serviceable in the first half but fell apart when Iowa was put in a position of having a multiple score lead allowing them to run the ball consistently. The Huskers were not the better team today and it didn’t seem even close in the second half. Nebraska wanted to “kill them with consistency” and 9/24 through the air just wasn’t going to get that done today.
As the Huskers head into a bowl game there is a lot to figure out, but I do feel there will be plenty of news for the Huskers before they take the field next which will likely be against either Missouri or LSU.