While Thanksgiving looked a little different for many around the country this year, Nebraska continued its tradition of losing to Iowa on Black Friday for the sixth consecutive season.
The Huskers returned Adrian Martinez as the starting quarterback, and the junior responded with arguably his best individual performance of the season to give NU a chance to win it in the final minutes.
But the final result was all too familiar NU in a 26-20 defeat in Iowa City, Iowa.
Martinez, who completed 18-of-20 passes for 174 yards and rushed for a touchdown, was sacked and fumbled at the Iowa 39-yard line on the final drive. Iowa recovered and kneeled out the rest of the clock to seal the win.
Nebraska, which fell to 1-4 on the season, has now lost seven of its 10 Big Ten meetings with the Hawkeyes and hasn’t won since a 37-34 overtime road victory in 2014.
Iowa marched all the way down to Nebraska’s 14-yard line on its opening possession but had to settle for a 32-yard field goal by Keith Duncan. The Hawkeyes would then end the first quarter with a six-yard touchdown pass from Spencer Petras to Tyrone Tracy to push its lead to 10-0.
Luke McCaffrey took over for Martinez on NU’s third drive and led an 11-play drive that ended with a 31-yard field goal by Connor Culp. McCaffrey rushed twice for 30 yards on the series.
Senior cornerback Dicaprio Bootle followed that up with his first career interception to spot the Huskers near midfield. McCaffrey again led the offense deep into Iowa territory, but Nebraska only came away with another Culp field goal, this time from 39 yards, to cut the deficit to 10-6 with 9:42 left in the half.
Iowa answered with a 33-yard field goal by Duncan to push the lead back to a touchdown. But Martinez came back in and – despite some errant snaps – relied on Wan’Dale Robinson and a 23-yard pass to Austin Allen on third-and-23 to set up a one-yard QB sneak touchdown and knot it at 13-13 going into halftime.
Martinez completed 6-of-7 passes for 76 yards and ran for 31 more on seven carries in the first half. McCaffrey was 3-for-5 passing for 21 yards and 33 on the ground while leading two field-goal drives.
Martinez stayed on the field to open the third quarter and picked up right where he left off in the first half, completing all four of his passes before Rahmir Johnson punched in a 12-yard touchdown run to take a 20-13 lead.
That marked NU’s first lead in Iowa City since the victory in 2014, when Kenny Bell caught the game-winning touchdown in overtime to beat the Hawkeyes 37-34.
Iowa’s offense wasted no time responding, though, going 66 yards on 14 plays and tying it up on a two-yard scoring rush by Mekhi Sargent on its ensuing possession. The Hawkeyes needed a five-yard catch by Sam LaPorta to convert a fourth-and-2 at the NU 16 to keep the drive alive.
After a three-and-out by Nebraska, Iowa reclaimed the lead on a 48-yard field goal by Duncan, his third of the day, to make it 23-20.
Nebraska then gave Iowa a gift with 10 minutes left to play when Cam Taylor-Britt muffed a punt to spot the Hawkeyes at the NU 38. The Blackshirts held firm and kept the Hawkeyes to a 37-yarder from Duncan that increased the lead to 26-20 with 8:21 remaining.
McCaffrey checked back in for the Huskers next series and got a first down, then Martinez took over, and the drive stalled three plays and a false start penalty later.
Iowa methodically drove down to the Nebraska 33 and chewed up 3:40 off the clock, but this time Duncan’s try from 51 yards doinked off the crossbar to give the Huskers the ball back with 2:02 to play.
An 18-yard pass to Robinson moved NU down to the Iowa 39 with 1:30 left, but Chauncy Golston broke through the protection on the next play and hit Martinez. The ball popped out and directly into the hands of Zach VanValkenberg to put the game away for good.
Nebraska out-gained Iowa in total offense 338-322, but two fourth-quarter fumbles proved to be the defining difference.
The Huskers will return to action next week when they travel to take on Purdue, which will be televised on BTN, but kickoff time won’t be announced until Saturday night or Sunday morning.
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