Nebraska 20 Iowa 26: Recap and Postgame Thread

Pregame

Will the Huskers show up today?

Who will be the starting quarterback? (If pregame snaps are an indicator, Adrian Martinez has earned his job back). Dedrick Mills is not in uniform, so we’ll likely see a heavy dose of freshmen and Wan’Dale in the backfield (and possibly Luke McCaffrey?) It also appears Nebraska will be without Marcus Fleming as well.

Mood check.

Iowa won the toss and decided to put their offense on the field first.

First Quarter

Ameer Smith-Marsette brought the ball out to the 32 yard line where Spencer Patras and the Hawkeye offense lined up. They quickly worked their way past midfield behind a great one-handed grab by Shaun Beyer. Another big run and late hit penalty by Luke Reimer moved the Hawkeyes into the red zone. However, JoJo Domann knocked away the third and 10 pass to force the field goal.

Iowa 3 Nebraska 0

Martinez and the offense got off to a hot start with Wan’dale Robinson scampering for a first down. But then, a jet sweep by Wan’dale was snuffed out for a big loss by the Hawkeyes bringing up third and 12. A bad snap and sack pushed the Huskers farther back. The Hawkeyes got the ball back near midfield.

Marquel Dismuke was a man on a mission as he forced an incompletion and then stuffed a run for a loss. Then the Blackshirts busted a coverage, leaving a wide wide wide wide open receiver for the easy conversion. Iowa moved past midfield but the defense put up the stop sign and forced a Tory Taylor punt which the Hawkeyes downed at the two yard line. Ben Stille has made his presence known early as the Hawkeyes have not been able to run the ball.

Marvin Scott III wasn’t able to open up any daylight. Oliver Martin caught a ball for a short gain and Adrian Martinez scrambled for the first down past the 25. The quarterback run game is the only part of the run game that is working for Nebraska so far. Wan’dale made the third down catch but it was short of the line to gain and William Przystup punted again. The Husker offensive line is getting their lunch money stolen by Iowa thus far.

Charlie Jones got a great return and set the Hawkeyes up on the Husker side of the field. They quickly moved into the red zone. Deontai Williams was all over the place, but Iowa continued to pick up positive yardage. One first and goal, the Blackshirts again lost track of a receiver for the easy touchdown.

Iowa 10 Nebraska 0

Luke McCaffrey came in for the series and quickly found Travis Vokolek. Luke kept the ball and ran past midfield but then air mailed a ball to Levi Falck. A Marvin Scott III carry ended the quarter. I don’t think Adrian has been benched, I think this was a planned series for Luke to try and get more tempo in the offense (but I guess we’ll find out later).

Second Quarter

Scott’s run was short (the offense was confused pre-snap) leading to fourth and one which Luke converted behind some Jack Stoll blocking. The Huskers were in the red zone but could get no farther. Connor Culp put the Huskers on the board.

Iowa 10 Nebraska 3

Iowa muffed the kickoff but was able to recover. The Husker offensive line is getting pushed around the field, but the defensive line is playing good ball – Damion Daniels introduced himself on a tackle for loss.

DICAPRIO BOOTLE INTERCEPTION!!!!

Well, well, well…Luke McCaffrey is back out on the field and found Rahmir Johnson. I don’t think Adrian did anything wrong with his drives, I think the coaches just feel like they have to go with tempo. Then an Alante Brown reverse went for big yardage to get Nebraska into the red zone.

Tackle for loss. Luke scramble for two yards. Near interception. Fourth down.

Connor Culp time.

Iowa 10 Nebraska 6

The Blackshirts forced a third and short and made it really interesting but the refs gave the Hawks the first down. That was followed by a Tyler Goodson run past midfield. Smith-Marsette made a catch and fumbled (JoJo punched it out), but it went out of bounds to stay with Iowa. Luke Reimer and the d-line are continuing to play hard – making it hard for Iowa to find yards on the ground. On third and 10, the Petras pass was incomplete, but Deontai Wililams got flagged for pass interference giving the Iowa drive new life near the red zone. The Huskers let a receiver get behind them, but the home run ball to Nico Ragaini was JUST out of reach, fortunately. The Blackshirts forced a fourth and three. At first, it appeared Iowa would go for it, but after the timeout, they elected to kick the field goal.

Iowa 13 Nebraska 6

Adrian Martinez is back on the field with 3:48 left in the half.

Fumbled bad snap is fortunately recovered by Adrian. DRINK.

The fact that Cameron Jurgens has not been replaced at center yet is mind boggling.

WANDALE!!!! gets the Huskers out of a jam and gets the Huskers to midfield. Martinez air mailed Zavier Betts. Neither quarterback has been accurate throwing passes downfield. It is frustrating to watch. Third and seven…MOAR WANDALE!

A bad snap went WAAAAAY over Adrian’s head. Drink. The staff finally saw enough and put Farniok in at center for the second and 29 play. Adrian scrambled for six, followed by a third and 23 yard catch by Austin Allen (DID YOU KNOW HE IS TALL?) at the sticks – FIRST DOWN NEBRASKA!!!

WANDALE INSIDE THE FIVE! WANDALE INSIDE THE ONE!

Second and goal. Adrian sneaks for the TOUCHDOWN!!!

Nebraska 13 Iowa 13

With 29 seconds and two timeouts, Iowa gets the ball on their own 30 yard line. The Hawkeyes made it out to midfield with eight seconds left. A Casey Rogers sack ends the half.

Halftime

The two quarterback system has not hurt Nebraska thus far. Adrian is starting to settle into better passes, and if he isn’t chasing bad snaps around, he might find some more success there. Outside of losing track of a couple of receivers, the Blackshirts have been playing really well. The defenders are trying hard to force turnovers, let’s hope we see them succeed in the second half.

The Husker run game has been more effective than Iowa’s thus far. The Blackshirt front seven is battling hard.

Third Quarter

Adrian Martinez is starting the second half at quarterback and Cam Jurgens is ack at center. I don’t like seeing Wan’dale carry the ball as much as he has today, but he is effective. Wan’dale is spelled by Rahmir Johnson.

I was hard on the offensive line in the first half, but they are giving Adrian a lot of time in the pass game. Zavier Betts moved the Huskers inside the red zone.

RAHMIR JOHNSON TOUCHDOWN!!!

Helluva way to start the second half. This drive was the kind of football we’ve been hoping to see from this offense for three seasons.

Nebraska 20 Iowa 13

Not a pooch kick, but a good return to the 35.

Iowa came out trying to establish the run game, with a bit of success. The Blackshirts forced third and eight near midfield, but then lost track of a receiver in the middle – again. Iowa moved into the red zone. Iowa elected to go for it on fourth and two which they converted on a catch to Sam Laporta. The Hawkeyes went into dink/dunk mode and kept finding open receivers for short yardage. Touchdown Iowa.

Ten of the 14 plays on that drive were runs. Iowa more than doubled their run yardage for the game on that series.

Nebraska 20 Iowa 20

The Huskers responded by going three and out as Adrian had nowhere to throw the ball or find a crease to scramble.

The Hawks got past midfield, but faced a fourth and five at the Husker 30 yard line. End of quarter. Scott Frost could have called a timeout to make Iowa kick the field goal into the wind, but he decides to keep it. This game is shaping up to be one where a coach might need their timeouts.

Fourth Quarter

The field goal was good.

Iowa 23 Nebraska 20

The Husker offense was looking good until a holding call on Bryce Benhart negated a 30 yard Martinez run, which was followed by a loss. On third and 17 near midfield, Kade Warner made the catch, but his momentum took him out of bounds short of the line to gain.

Hawkeye ball at the 13.

The Blackshirts forced a three and out but Cam Taylor-Britt muffed the pun and the Hawkeyes recovered. We’ve reverted to Husker football with penalties and turnovers. We all know where this is going.

The Blackshirts came out with little rest and forced a field goal. The defense has been put in bad spots at times and made some mistakes but has played lights-out all things considered.

Iowa 26 Nebraska 20

Luke McCaffrey comes out at quarterback for Nebraska. The coaches must want some tempo because Adrian has been the better passer today. With Luke’s struggles in the pass game, Nebraska is essentially running a wildcat offense with #7.

Adrian Martinez came out to take over at QB after one first down conversion. On third and 10, false start. Drink.

Penalties and turnovers – welcome back old friends. The third down play goes nowhere. Punt.

Nebraska is going to be leaning on the Blackshirts in this one. With 5 minutes left, Iowa has the ball and is approaching midfield.

The Hawkeyes continue to chew clock and the game is going under 2 ¹⁄₂ minutes left with Iowa marching down the field. Frost takes his first timeout with 2:12 and Iowa facing a third and three.

THE BLACKSHIRTS STUFF IT (Marquel Dismuke and Will Honas). Timeout Nebraska. 2:07 left in the game. Iowa tried to draw Nebraska offsides, but brought out the field goal kicker instead. The 51 yarder doinked off the goal post crossbar. Whew.

The Husker fired to Austin Allen who was hurt on a play where he landed awkwardly on his head/neck area after making the catch.

After a couple of nice throws, Adrian is sacked, fumbles and the Hawkeyes recover. Ball. Game.

The Huskers drop their sixth straight game to Iowa.