Hawkeyes use second half rally to down Huskers in Heroes Game

IOWA CITY, Ia. — It was a defensive slugfest Friday night at Kinnick Stadium between Iowa and Nebraska, which ended in similar fashion from last season’s Heroes Game.

The Hawkeyes rallied back from a 10-point deficit at halftime, and were able to pull away from the Huskers 13-10, in front of 69,250 fans. For a second-straight season, the battle ended with a walk-off field goal, and the same exact score from 2023’s meeting in Lincoln.

It was Iowa’s second-straight victory over Nebraska, and now the program has won nine of the last 10 in the series. Coach Kirk Ferentz couldn’t be more proud of his team. After all, the Hawkeyes persevered after a scoreless first half, capitalized off the Huskers’ turnovers and made the necessary plays in the clutch. What’s even more telling, is the fact that Iowa was able to pull out the win, despite finishing with a season-low, 164 yards of total offense.

“I know statistics are important, but sometimes you just have to find a way to win, and our team did that,” Ferentz said. “Down 10-0… I think our guys really dug in and made plays when it mattered, and that’s really what you have to do if you are going to be successful, we kept working, it starts there, and they believe in each other too, so big things.”

The Hawkeyes got off to a shaky start though. Quarterback Dylan Raiola led Nebraska (6-6) on a 10-play, scoring drive on its’ initial possession, that took over five minutes off the clock. After that field goal, the Huskers later put together a 12-play, touchdown drive right before the end of the first half. The crowd was silent, and clearly Nebraska had all of the momentum.

The stats at halftime were embarrassing for Iowa. The Huskers had 10 first downs and the Hawkeyes had none. Nebraska had 182 yards of total offense, and Iowa had 20. On top of that, quarterback Jackson Stratton only had eight yards through the air, and running back Kaleb Johnson generated a mere 16 on the ground.

However, Ferentz made some halftime adjustments, and the Hawkeyes kept their heads high for the second half. Although there weren’t much offensive fireworks over final 30 minutes, some big plays happened. Nebraska missed an opportunity to go up 13-0 after a failed field goal attempt, and the momentum shifted to Iowa’s side for the remainder of the game.

Shortly afterwards, Husker wideout Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda muffed a punt return, which the Hawkeyes recovered. The turnover gave Iowa’s offense great field position at Nebraska’s four-yard line. The Hawkeyes didn’t get to punch it in the end zone, but kicker Drew Stevens put the team on the scoreboard with a 20-yard field goal. Ferentz thought he made the right decision at the moment, by taking the points instead of going for it on fourth and goal.

“I mean, I’ll be brutally honest, I didn’t have confidence we were going to make it on the fourth and one down in there,” he said. “I do know this, if we didn’t get points at that point, it could be problematic, so I’m hoping something was going to happen later in the half, and fortunately it did.”

Iowa’s defense turned it up a notch after that, stuffed the run and completely shut down Nebraska’s offense. The biggest offensive play of the game happened in the fourth quarter. Johnson caught a pass from Stratton out of the backfield, broke five tackles and took the pigskin 72 yards to the house.

The breathtaking play sent the crowd into a frenzy, and tied the game up at 10. The game was trending towards overtime late in the fourth quarter, when the Huskers had possession at their own 43-yard line, and 25 seconds left on the clock. That’s when the biggest defensive play of the evening occurred. Raiola dropped back to attempt a pass, but linebacker Max Llewellyn sacked the gunslinger, plus he forced and recovered the fumble.

The turnover by Nebraska gave Iowa’s offense great field position to win the game with a field goal. Despite the freezing temperatures, and a hard football, Stevens nailed a 53-yard field goal as time expired and the Hawkeyes rushed the field in excitement. Ferentz was so thrilled that Stevens turned out to be the team hero, considering he was benched for being inconsistent in last year’s game.

“Drew has done nothing but mature, he’s worked hard, and earned everything that he has gotten,” the 69-year old coach said. “He’s done the hard work, he kicked with great confidence last week in windy conditions, and tonight that wasn’t a chip shot, I think all of us felt like, hey, he’ll do it.”

The Hawkeyes celebrated with the fans as they hoisted the Heroes Trophy and walked back to the locker room. Once the smoke cleared, Iowa (8-4) shutout Nebraska in the second half. The Huskers led the Hawkeyes in total offense, plays, first downs and time of possession, but still lost. Iowa didn’t even convert a single third down the entire game.

Which is why Ferentz could care less about stats, and the only thing that matters to him is getting a win in November. Stratton completed eight of his 15 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. Johnson was held in check for the most part, and only finished with 45 yards on the ground. He led the team in receiving yards though, and scored the Hawkeyes’ only touchdown of the game.

Defensively, Iowa was tenacious, and made a statement in the trenches. Linebacker Jay Higgins generated a team-high, 12 tackles, including one for loss. Defensive back Sebastian Castro added 11 stops, and forced a fumble. Ethan Hurkett was a menace off the edge, with nine tackles, including three for loss, two sacks and forced a fumble. Defensive lineman Aaron Graves also made Raiola eat grass.

Now the Hawkeyes have a lot of momentum approaching bowl season. Most importantly, Ferentz is glad that he was able to send his seniors off on a high note, with a lasting impression on the fans.

“Just really proud of the guys, how they finished November 3-1, we’ve had our things to overcome, so just proud of the effort everybody put in there.”