"History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes," Mark Twain once said (or so the legend goes). The rhyme must be getting deafening for Nebraska football at this point, which found itself on the wrong end of a walk-off field goal from an Iowa placekicker for the fourth time since 2018 (this time by Drew Stevens) and lost to Iowa for the second straight year by a score of 13-10 after a late Nebraska turnover set up a game-winning Iowa field goal.
Four Downs breaks down an Iowa-Nebraska game with yet another absolutely wild ending.
1. Hawkeye Devil Magic strikes again.
This game was a classic example of Hawkeye Devil Magic, one of those wins in which Iowa pulls a win out of thin air thanks to defense, special teams, and good old-fashioned black magic when the offense no-shows. Wins like these were commonplace during Iowa's unlikely 10-win campaigns in 2021 and 2023, but we haven't seen them as often this season, given the offensive improvement that's taken place under new offensive coordinator Tim Lester. When Iowa has won games this season, it's usually been because the offense (or at least the running game portion of the offense) has produced a superlative effort.
That wasn't the case on Friday night. Nebraska out-gained Iowa 334 yards to 164 and had 20 first downs to Iowa's five. Nebraska almost doubled Iowa up in time of possession -- 39:01 to 20:59 -- and converted 8 of 17 third downs. Iowa failed to convert a single third down in the game.
Despite owning the conference's best rushing attack, Iowa ran for just 49 yards on 26 attempts (1.9 ypc) on Friday, 165 yards below its season average. Kaleb Johnson, the Big Ten's best running back, had only 45 yards on 17 carries in the game.
Jackson Stratton, making his second career start, finished 8-for-15 for 115 yards and a touchdown through the air, but his performance was far nervier than it was last week. He struggled to find open receivers or get the ball out on time and threw a few passes in the dirt. His most productive pass of the game -- a 72-yard catch-and-run by Kaleb Johnson which was also Iowa's only offensive touchdown of the game and the source of almost half of its total offensive yards in the game -- was entirely the result of an incredible individual effort from Johnson.
Johnson's shiftiness, tackle-breaking ability, and speed in the open field absolutely make that play, not the short backwards pass tossed by Stratton to Johnson. Even while he was stymied again and again as a rusher, Johnson still found a way to make a massive impact on the game once he was finally able to get the ball in space.
This was another game Iowa won in spite of the offense rather than because of it. And, frankly, there's not really anyone in the country better at winning those types of games than Iowa.
2. The defense bent, but didn't break -- and got the big plays when it needed them.
As noted above, Nebraska massively out-gained Iowa on offense, possessed the ball almost twice as long, and was far more effective at sustaining drives. Yet they could only muster 10 points because while the Iowa defense bent often throughout the game, it rarely broke. Nebraska's only touchdown came on a drive right before halftime.
The Huskers' other drives into Iowa territory ended with a made field goal (in the first quarter), a missed field goal (on a drive right out of halftime, when Nebraska had an opportunity to take a 13-0 or 17-0 lead on the Hawkeyes), and a punt from the Iowa 40-yard line in the fourth quarter. The Huskers had just two three-and-out drives all game (compared to six for Iowa), but they were only able to produce a handful of legitimate scoring opportunities against Iowa.
The Iowa defensive line came up with several critical stops -- the front four combined to produce four sacks and seven tackles for loss, big negative plays that often killed Nebraska drives. Ethan Hurkett had two of Iowa's four sacks and was a menace in the first quarter, while no play was bigger than Max Llewellyn's strip-sack and fumble recovery in the final minute of Friday's game.
Llewellyn's play came mere moments after Sebastian Castro had forced a fumble from Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson -- only for Johnson to fortunately fall on the ball for a recovery. Iowa needed a big play from the defense on that final Nebraska drive -- Iowa's prospects in overtime looked shaky given the struggles of the offense all night -- and the defense more than held its end of the bargain.
In addition to the defensive line, praise is owed to Jay Higgins, who made his final appearance in Kinnick Stadium a memorable one. Higgins, who is still just a few weeks removed from a significant hamstring injury, produced one more stuffed stat line: 12 tackles, a tackle for loss, and a pair of quarterback hurries. Higgins has been Iowa's unquestioned defensive leader for the past two seasons and he produced another memorable effort here.
3. The Special Teams Roller Coaster.
The final memory of the special teams from this game is going to be a very happy one because it was yet another game-winning field goal by an Iowa placekicker to defeat Nebraska. But the special teams in this game had plenty of ups and downs for the Hawkeyes.
Consider:
- Rhys Dakin punted the ball nine times (his heaviest workload since also attempting nine punts against Iowa State), but had five punts that went less than 40 yards...
- ...though one of them was downed at the 5-yard line
- Kaden Wetjen had a 32-yard kickoff return and a 25-yard punt return...
- ...but also had some miscommunication with Max White on a kickoff return that resulted in neither man fielding it and the ball needing to be frantically recovered by Iowa in the end zone for a touchback.
- Two of the three biggest plays in the game came via special teams: Stevens' 53-yard game-winning field goal and the muffed punt recovered by John Nestor that set Iowa up at the Nebraska 4-yard line and resulted in Iowa's first points of the game
Overall, it was just a very weird, up-and-down day for the Iowa special teams, but the big positive plays will undoubtedly be the big takeaways from this game.
4. ANOTHER Walk-Off Winner.
Finally, it's uncanny that Iowa beat Nebraska for the fourth time since 2018 with a game-winning walk-off field goal, but it's even more absurd how much this 13-10 win over the Huskers resembled last year's 13-10 win over Nebraska in Lincoln.
Like this year, Iowa struggled find effective offense against Nebraska last year, with another backup-turned-starter at QB in Deacon Hill. Like this year, Iowa needed a defensive lineman to force a key turnover late in the game to give Iowa an opportunity for a game-winning kick.
Last year it was Ethan Hurkett with an interception, this year it was Max Llewellyn with the strip-sack and fumble recovery. And, of course, both games ended with walk-off field goals -- Marshall Meeder last year (ironically stepping in for Stevens due to several missed kicks) and Drew Stevens this year.
WATCH: Drew Stevens Helps Iowa Walk Off Nebraska Again
When it comes to close games in this series, Iowa is the unstoppable force and Nebraska is the very movable object; the Hawkeyes simply find ways to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, while the Cornhuskers have become experts at determining how to find improbable ways to lose games.
