Game Week: vs. Iowa

NEBRASKA vs. IOWA
Nov. 24, 2023 | MEMORIAL STADIUM
LINCOLN, NEB. | 11 AM CT

 

HUSKERS
Record: 5-6, 3-5 Big Ten
Last Game: at Wisconsin, L, 24-17 (OT)
Rankings: NR
Head Coach: Matt Rhule
Career/NU Record: 52-49 (8th Year)/5-6 (1st Year)
vs. Iowa: 0-0

 

HAWKEYES
Record: 9-2, 6-2 Big Ten
Last Game: vs. Illinois, W, 15-13
Rankings: AP – 20, Coaches - 19
Head Coach: Kirk Ferentz
Career/IOWA Record: 195-117 (25th Year)/207-138 (28th Year)
vs. Nebraska: 8-6

 

SERIES HISTORY
All-Time Series: Nebraska leads, 30-20-3
At Lincoln: Nebraska leads, 15-7-1
Last Game: Nebraska, 24-17 (2022)

Win Streak: Nebraska, 1 game

 

BROADCAST INFO
TV – CBS (Tom McCarthy, Ross Tucker, Tiffany Blackmon)
RADIO NETWORK - Huskers Radio Network
INTERNET RADIO - Huskers.com
APP AUDIO - Official Huskers App

 

The Matchup
Nebraska completes the 2023 regular season against Iowa with its traditional Black Friday matchup, and the schools will compete for the Heroes Trophy presented by Pioneer. The contest between border rivals is set for an 11 a.m. kickoff on Friday at Memorial Stadium. The game will be televised to a national audience on CBS, and can be heard on the Huskers Radio Network, the official Huskers App and Huskers.com.

 

Nebraska will head into the game at 5-6 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten following a third straight close setback on Saturday at Wisconsin. The Huskers need a victory against the Hawkeyes to secure their first bowl appearance since the 2016 season.

 

The Huskers took an early 14-point lead in Madison before the Badgers rallied with 17 consecutive points. A Husker field goal in the final seconds forced an extra session, but Wisconsin scored a touchdown on its possession, before stopping the Nebraska offense on downs. Nebraska once again showed a strong running game against the Badgers, putting up 195 yards on the ground.

 

Iowa will enter Friday's game with a 9-2 overall mark, including a 6-2 record in Big Ten Conference play. With their 15-13 victory over Illinois on Saturday, the Hawkeyes clinched the Big Ten West Division and an appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game on Dec. 3. The Hawkeyes are ranked 20th in the Associated Press Poll and No. 19 in the coaches poll heading into the game.

 

The Hawkeyes feature outstanding defense and special teams, leading the nation in net punting, while ranking in the top 10 in scoring defense (3rd), passing defense (4th) and total defense (7th). 

 

Series History: Nebraska vs. Iowa
Nebraska and Iowa meet for the 13th consecutive year on Black Friday in a game that will mark the 54^th all-time meeting between the schools. Nebraska holds a 30-20-3 overall edge in the series and ended a seven-game Iowa win streak last November in Iowa City.

 

• Iowa holds an 8-4 edge in the series since Nebraska joined the Big Ten, including a 5-1 record against the Huskers in Lincoln. Nebraska still maintains an 11-6 edge overall in games at Memorial Stadium.

 

• The past five meetings between the teams have been decided by a total of 26 points, including last-second field goals in 2018 and 2019.

 

• The schools met 41 times before Nebraska joined the Big Ten but played just six times between 1946 and 2011. Nebraska won three of four games in a four-game series between 1979 and 1982 and swept a home-and-home series in 1999 and 2000. 

 

Nebraska, Iowa to Battle for Heroes Trophy

Nebraska and Iowa will battle for the Heroes Trophy when they hit the field Friday at Memorial Stadium. The Heroes Game is the annual trophy game between Nebraska and Iowa. The game is sponsored by Pioneer.

 

• While both teams aim to win the trophy on the field, Nebraska and Iowa wished to make their annual meeting about more than just a football game. The schools partnered to not only create a trophy, but to use their stage to honor a citizen hero from each state. In addition to the trophy claimed by the winner of the game, both an Iowa and Nebraska native will be honored for extraordinary acts.

 

• Citizen heroes were selected from each state, with Josh Hicks chosen as Nebraska's Hero and Eric Kumm selected as Iowa's Hero. Hicks lives in Lincoln and played a pivotal role in rescuing and pulling a man from a van that tumbled off a highway into a lake near Wichita, Kan., this past July. Kumm, is a vocational agriculture teacher and FFA advisor since 1997 in the South O’Brien (Iowa) school district. Without his guidance, many small towns in northwest Iowa would be without veterinarians, agronomists, welders, ag teachers, farmers and many other ag related jobs. 

 

Big Red on Black Friday

Nebraska continues its long tradition of playing on the day after Thanksgiving. This Friday’s game with Iowa will mark the 34th consecutive season the Huskers have played on Black Friday.

 

• Nebraska met Oklahoma in the final six seasons of the Big Eight Conference (1990 to 1995), then played Colorado in all 15 of the Huskers’ Big 12 Conference years (1996 to 2010), before taking on Iowa each of the 13 seasons it has been a Big Ten member, including this year.

 

• Nebraska is 10-7 at home in Black Friday games since 1990, including 1-5 against Iowa.

 

• In addition to playing Iowa on Black Friday the past 12 seasons, Nebraska and Iowa also closed the regular season against each other nine times from 1892 to 1916.  

 

This Week's Numbers
3 - Nebraska has started three quarterbacks this season, including Heinrich Haarberg (8 starts), Jeff Sims (2 starts) and Chubba Purdy (1 start). This marks the first time since 2013 Nebraska has had three different quarterbacks start games.

34 - Friday's game marks Nebraska's 34th consecutive season playing on Black Friday. That streak includes games against Oklahoma (1990-95), Colorado (1996-2010) and Iowa (2011-23).

75 - Rover Isaac Gifford has a team-high 75 tackles in 2023. Gifford is the first Nebraska defensive back to record at least 75 tackles in a season since safety Nathan Gerry had 79 tackles in 13 games in 2015.