After becoming a trendy pick to win the Big Ten West this season, Nebraska instead finds themselves right back where they were in Year 1 of Scott Frost’s continuing rebuild of his alma mater.
The Cornhuskers had a chance late in the second half but couldn’t close the deal on an elusive sixth win, falling to Iowa 27-24 on Black Friday thanks to a Keith Duncan game-winning field goal with just one tick left on the clock.
THE KICK IS GOOD!
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 29, 2019
Keith Duncan drills it for @HawkeyeFootball to take the lead with :01 left, and Iowa holds on to win: pic.twitter.com/Zmz3cN0R70
The final three points, which were drilled right down the middle from 48 yards out, came thanks to an impressive drive to get into position for it by QB Nate Stanley. Though the signal-caller was just mediocre passing the ball (11/24, 99 yards, 1 INT) for the most part, he delivered some huge throws down the field in showing off some impressive arm strength and overcoming a few questionable calls down the stretch from officials.
Ihmir Smith-Marsette was the real star of the show for the Hawkeyes either way, netting a 45 yard touchdown run off a sweep and returning a kickoff to the house in the first half alone. Add in Tyler Goodson’s 116 yards rushing and a touchdown and the team did just enough to avoid blowing a two-score lead at the start of the third quarter.
Nebraska did seem like a very different squad during that second half comeback but never did find the kind of consistency their head coach has preached in recent months. Starting quarterback Adrian Martinez threw for 50 yards (one pick) and rushed for 44 more but was replaced for several series by backup Luke McCaffrey, who threw a strike for a 39 yard touchdown pass and appeared to have the team in position to go to overtime before the Blackshirt defense let them down.
As a result, Iowa notched their fifth straight win over the Huskers and ended their season at 5-7 to deny a bowl trip for the third straight year. Big Red has been one of the more disappointing teams in the country in 2019 and the Hawkeyes really twisted the knife in that statement by confirming it on a real Black Friday in Lincoln.
