The Heroes' Trophy heads to Lincoln! A game of momentum and swinging emotions—this is what the B1G conference epitomizes on any given Saturday.
Let's recap:
Nebraska started off strong, with Coach Spyder executing a game plan that methodically moved the ball downfield, consuming the clock and forcing Iowa's defense to work hard. This strategy paid off with a 13-play drive covering 75 yards, leaving only 2:38 on the clock in the first quarter.
Iowa quickly went three-and-out, and Raiola connected with Johnson on a screen pass that led to a 19-yard touchdown. The momentum didn't stop there. As Iowa tried to respond, their running back Williams fumbled due to a hit by Javin Wright, and Barnes scooped it up, returning it 78 yards for a touchdown, making it 21-0 with 6:33 left in the second quarter.
Iowa finally got on the board, scoring quickly in 90 seconds. After holding Nebraska to a three-and-out, the momentum began to shift in Iowa's favor as the home crowd rattled the young Nebraska team. However, Sullivan threw a misguided pass intercepted by Gifford and returned for a touchdown. Then, after another interception on the ensuing possession, true freshman Raiola delivered a perfect 30-yard pass to Coleman, securing a 35-7 lead and full control of the game.
The comeback...
With just 21 seconds left in the half, Nebraska's defense conceded a touchdown. Iowa then started the second half with the ball and scored quickly. Nebraska's offense struggled throughout the third quarter and early fourth, unable to find an answer to Iowa's defense. Iowa scored 28 unanswered points to tie the game.
The pressure cooker...
With the game tied and only 3:25 remaining, it was time for the true freshman Raiola to shine. On the first play of the possession, he forced a pass on a drag route but threw it directly to Jaden Harrel, who returned it for a touchdown, giving Iowa their first lead of the game with 2:49 left.
Nebraska responded swiftly, launching a 75-yard bomb to Coleman on a deep post route. Raiola, chased by two Hawkeyes, went full YOLO. The defense then had to step up, and although they couldn't keep Iowa out of field goal range, they held firm, using all their timeouts. They stopped Iowa on 2nd and 3rd down with short yardage, forcing a field goal and preserving 40 seconds on the clock.
In the final drive, Raiola connected with Fidone on a deep cross, who went out of bounds to stop the clock. Then, NEB switched to a 5-wide receiver set and found true freshman Barney open deep left, nearly scoring. On the first play from the 8, sophomore Coleman dropped a potential touchdown, but on second down, Raiola narrowly escaped a sack to set up the game's defining play. Tightend Fidone, lined up wide, beat the DB on an inside slant for the go-ahead touchdown with just 17 seconds remaining!
This thrilling victory keeps Nebraska's Big Ten championship hopes alive, with plans to face Wisconsin tomorrow.
Iowa came into the last game of the season with an outside chance of reaching the conference championship game. After falling behind 35-7 with 21 seconds left the Hawkeyes were believing the headlines. All season people have doubted Iowa's weak schedule, the most recent Massey ratings even put an 8-2 Iowa team behind a 4-5 team.
So as Iowa ran onto the field after what seemed like the 15th Nebraska kickoff of the first half there was a lot of booing. You could even here people changing their TV channels and calling it a night. Iowa someone how went the length of the field and scored a TD as time expired.
Across the country this year we have seen a lot of teams get behind by big margins and abandon the run. Down 21 in the 3rd quarter Iowa was intent on coming out with a balance attack. They promptly came out and got sacked for a 6 yard loss. However after that the offense would mix in 3 runs and 5 passes and cut the lead to 14.
Iowa defense would get a stop after a quick 4 play drive, and Iowa would take over after the punt on their own 12 yard line.
Iowa would run the ball 4 straight times for 34 yards to get the ball to midfield. 2 passes and 4 runs later they would complete the 88 yard drive and cut the lead to 7.
After 2 quick first downs, the Nebraska drive would stall around midfield and Iowa would take over at their own 3 yard line. Down 7 with the ball in the 4th quarter the stadium hoped to see a typical methodical Iowa drive. 4 runs and 4 passes later the offense would find themselves 3rd and Goal from the 6 and RB Leshon Williams limping off the field with injury. Iowa gonna Iowa, and the stadium would erupt as backup RB Kaleb Johnson ran in the game tying TD on a gutsy running play call by Coach Wildes.
2 plays later the stadium would go absolutely bonkers as Jaden Harrel would get a pick 6 to put Iowa up 7 with 3 minutes left. On the next play from line of scrimmage, freshman QB Raiola would roll out and on the run, hit a crossing route 50 yards down the field and tie the game right back up.
Iowa needed one more Iowaesque drive to go down and win the game. Iowa would get into the red zone quickly behind a 49 yard run by Leshon Williams. 3 more runs and 3 Nebraska timeouts later Iowa would kick the go ahead FG with 44 secs left.
Nebraska would march down the field and score the game winning TD with ease. The stadium was quiet as the Iowa players, staff, and cheerleaders were crying on the field, the Seniors taking it the hardest.
After the game, through misty eyes Coach Wildes would go on and on about how proud he was off his players. When asked about his decision to be conservative and run the ball 3 times and make Neb uses their timeouts Coach Wildes said, "That's how we play here, we trust our special teams and defense. You have to give credit where credit is due. Twice in the last 3 minutes of the game, Coach Spyder would lead his team down the field for a TD against one of the best college defenses assembled in years. I'll trust our defense every time in that situation."
All 3 of Iowa's losses were to teams that would be ranked in the top 10 in the season. On the other side, all 9 wins were against teams that were never ranked during the season. So we still don't really know how good this team or coach is. Perhaps he needs to run it back and see???
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