Iowa Football: Reviewing The Hawkeyes Destruction Of Nebraska

The Iowa Hawkeyes played their annual post-Thanksgiving Day game against rival Nebraska this past Friday in Lincoln. The game was, in a word great, especially for Iowa fans. It took a full half to get going, but the Hawkeyes rose up and destroyed the Cornhuskers 56-14.

How did the scoring go? What were some of the key plays? Let’s find out as we take a closer look at the Black Friday Iowa versus Nebraska tilt in Lincoln.

The Cornhuskers got the ball first, and on the first play, quarterback Tanner Lee was hit by Anthony Nelson. The ball was dropped and picked up by Parker Hessey for an apparent touchdown. The play was reviewed and was ruled an incomplete pass. Nebraska continued the drive but couldn’t do much and punted. Iowa couldn’t do much on their first possession, and in their attempt to punt, Colton Rastetter had trouble with the snap and couldn’t get the ball off. The Cornhuskers got the ball back in good field position.

Nebraska would go up seven after Stanley Morgan Jr. hauled in a one-handed pass from Lee. Iowa got the ball back in bad field position after Ihmir Smith-Marsette took the kickoff and stepped out of bounds at the one-yard line. Iowa, with their backs against the wall Iowa got into a little bit better position thanks to a nice run by Akrum Wadley and a good catch by Matt Vandenberg. The drive continued after a fourth down conversion on a quarterback sneak by Nate Staley. The Hawkeyes’ effort was capped off by a touchdown run by Wadley to tie it all up at seven with 2:16 left in the first quarter.

The Cornhuskers got the ball back after the score and ended that drive with a 37-yard fake field goal attempt. The fake didn’t fool the Hawks, and they shut it down. The Hawkeyes took over at their own 24 and were forced to punt after a few plays. Nebraska would end their drive with another Lee to Morgan Jr. touchdown pass with 6:18 left in the first half.

The score would be 14-7 at that point.

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Iowa took the ball and didn’t do anything with it to start but a running into the kicker penalty kept the drive alive. The Hawks escaped disaster when a Wadley fumble was picked up by Smith-Marsette to salvage their efforts. Iowa tied it up at the end of the drive thanks to a pass from Stanley to tight end Noah Fant.

The half would end with the score tied 14 all.

The Hawkeyes got the ball to start the second half and Smith-Marsette ran the ball all the way back for an apparent touchdown on the kickoff. However, the return was negated by a block in the back by Iowa. Iowa had great field position at the Nebraska 22-yard line. With that field position, Iowa was able to go up 21-14 on the drive thanks to a Wadley touchdown.

It was all Iowa from that point forward.

The Cornhuskers got the ball back for the first time in the half and were forced to punt. Iowa then got a great pass from Stanley to Fant to put Iowa in prime scoring position. Running back James Butler steamrolled his way into the end zone on the next play and Iowa went up 28-14.

Nebraska had to do something on their next drive to stay in the game. But Ben Nieman had other plans and ended the drive after intercepting a pass by Lee. Iowa would go up 35-14 thanks to another big run by Wadley to capitalize on the score.

It appeared as if the rout was on in Lincoln.

The two teams traded possessions and Iowa ended up getting the ball after Nebraska couldn’t do anything. On that next drive Stanley connected on a 68-yard touchdown pass to Fant to bury the Cornhuskers in an even bigger hole 42-14.

They each had a possession after that and Nebraska got the ball back after Iowa couldn’t convert.  The Cornhuskers drive ended when Josey Jewell intercepted a Lee pass. The Hawks got the ball back with 13:57 left in the fourth quarter.

The Hawkeye offense would score again after Toren Young ran the ball in to make it 49-14. The Cornhuskers punted on their next possession. Iowa took the ball and Ivory Kelley-Martin had a big run to set Iowa up close to the goal line. Kelley-Martin capped off the drive with another touchdown to make it 56-14 with 6:34 left.

Nebraska’s Lee was intercepted by Kristian Welch and he ran it down into the red zone. Iowa would get to fourth down on the drive and, in an effort not to run up the score, turned the ball over on downs. The Cornhuskers would run the clock out and Iowa would win 56-14.

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The Hawkeyes were kept in check for the first 30 minutes of the game, but they broke away and pummeled the Cornhuskers. Something happened at halftime as the coaching staff must have made some great adjustments because all the sudden, Iowa exploded. What changed in that second half?

The defense seemed to liven up as well and kept Nebraska from doing anything while the offense took control. The Hawkeyes did what they had to do to win and all phases did their part very well.

This resembles the same offense that showed up for the Ohio State game and then went into hibernation for two games. Why would the Hawks have struggled in between two big offensive outbursts? Where was the consistency?

The problem could be found in the play calling. It’s young Brian Ferentz’ first year calling plays and he hasn’t got the experience that seasoned play callers have. He is learning. Also, he is learning with a new quarterback and that can cause problems.

Hopefully, in year two, the Hawkeye’s offense will be better with the experience gained in year one by both Ferentz and Stanley. If the offense is anything like it was in the games they played against Nebraska and Ohio State, the Hawks are going to have a much better record in 2018. Let’s just hope they have the defense to match and keep teams from racking up the points.

The Hawks will wait a few days to find out what bowl game they will go to. We will preview that bowl game when the matchup is announced.