Final take: Nebraska gets the feel good moment they've been waiting far too long for

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Eight years ago at Kinnick Stadium Nebraska beat Iowa in overtime. They held a commanding 3-1 lead in the newly minted Heroes trophy game series.

That next day former athletic director Shawn Eichorst fired Bo Pelini after a 9-3 regular season. He said the win over Iowa played no impact into his decision based on where the Hawkeye program was at that time.

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“Our kids showed great character and resiliency in a tough environment,” Eichorst said, “so it did play a factor. But in the final analysis, I had to evaluate where Iowa was.”

Since those famous words, Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes won seven straight vs. the Huskers. The streak finally ended on Friday, as Mickey Joseph’s Huskers (4-8, 3-6) took down the Hawkeyes (7-5, 5-4) 24-17, potentially spoiling its bid to win the Big Ten West.

Nebraska’s players send Mickey Joseph out the right way

What Mickey Joseph signed up for 11 weeks ago was no picnic. He had to captain a ship through some of the roughest waters a head coach has ever faced at Nebraska.

Beating Iowa on Friday was not only special for NU’s players, but the entire Husker fan base that has suffered the last seven years with the Hawkeyes’ dominance in the series.

“They finished something that we started, and that’s what we asked the them to do,” Joseph said.

The game had a little bit of everything we’ve seen in the last 11 weeks. There were big plays from quarterback Casey Thompson to Trey Palmer. We saw sound defense once again from Bill Busch’s unit, which has improved leaps and bounds since giving up a combined 1,222 yards in losses to Georgia Southern and Oklahoma.

In a game where Nebraska jumped out to a 24-0 lead by forcing two early turnovers, things still found a way to get interesting late. Did you expect anything different? Nothing has seemingly come easy for the Huskers, but this time they found a way to get the stops when it mattered.

“That’s Blackshirt defense right there,” an emotional Bill Busch yelled as he walked off the field for perhaps the final time as a Husker assistant coach. “That’s Blackshirt defense!”

As the game played out, it was hard not to follow what was going on off the field. News of Matt Rhule’s potential hiring to Nebraska was in full steam.

As the Huskers were arguably getting its best win as a program in several years, it was hard not to wonder what was next.

For now, Nebraska’s players are just worried about celebrating this one.

“I am just going to celebrate this one right now and worry about that later,” junior edge rusher Garrett Nelson said.

Now on to the breakdown…

What I saw on Friday

***It had been so long since Nebraska won a Big Ten Trophy game that most of NU’s players and coaches didn’t know what to do. Even Joseph had to be directed toward the Trophy celebration. Quarterback Casey Thompson said it was a completely new experience for him. The Husker players took the trophy into the stands and let several Nebraska fans hold it and pose for pictures.

***Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren was in attendance at the Nebraska vs. Iowa game. It’s the fourth game Warren has attended, as he was in Ireland vs. Northwestern, in Lincoln for the Huskers’ game with Indiana and NU’s Friday night game at Rutgers.

***Wide receiver Trey Palmer finished the best season ever by a Husker wide receiver by topping out with 71 catches for 1,043 yards. He set a new single-season yardage record and is second in single-season receptions only to Marlon Lucky’s 75 from 2007. He is the best big-play receiver Nebraska has had in years.

***It was a thing of beauty to watch Thompson manage the game late and run the play clock down before each snap. We haven’t seen that type of game management from a Husker quarterback in a while.

***Husker AD Trev Alberts did not travel with the team on Thursday but was in attendance at Iowa. A group of reporters tried to chase down Alberts for a comment about the Matt Rhule reports near the elevator but had no success.

***Linebacker Luke Reimer did not dress for Nebraska’s game with Iowa. In his place, Eteva Mauga-Clements got the start. He had an 18-yard strip sack on Iowa that led to a fumble recovery and return from Nelson.

***Wide receiver Alante Brown was back in the line-up after missing last week’s game against Wisconsin due to injury.

***Mark Whipple had a perfect day to open up Nebraska’s offense. Clear skies with temps in the low 50s. He took advantage of it right away with an 87-yard strike to Palmer.

***After the game, Joseph said he planned to hand the Blackshirts back to his starting defense with how they played on Friday at Iowa.

The final grade out

	Grade	HOL Take
Rushing offense	D-	Nebraska’s ground game was a non-factor. NU had just 67 sack-adjusted rush yards. They had 17 first-down rushing attempts for 32 yards. They only picked up one first down by running the football on third down. Rahmir Johnson had a critical fumble in the fourth quarter that let Iowa back in the game.
Passing offense	A	Casey Thompson torched Iowa early, finding Trey Palmer for an 87-yard score that brought flashbacks to NU’s game at Purdue. Thompson was 20-of-30 for 278 yards and three touchdowns. He was hurried once and sacked twice.
Rushing defense	B	Other than a 44-yard run from Kaleb Johnson, Nebraska’s rushing defense was solid. They kept Iowa in check and had enough early down wins to put the Hawkeyes in passing situations. The Hawkeyes finished with 163 sack-adjusted rush yards.
Passing defense	A	Nebraska’s pass rush produced three sacks that led to turnovers. They did not allow a completion longer than 20 yards. They finished the game with six quarterback hurries and seven tackles for loss. NU sealed the win with an Chris Kolarevic interception.
Special teams	C+	Nebraska missed a 33-yard field goal early, but Timmy Bleekrode was later good from 21 yards out. The Huskers also had two penalties on special teams – a false start and a block in the back. The main thing is they did not allow Iowa to block a kick or make a play on special teams. You would have liked to have seen Javier Morton more aware and knock that final punt down inside the 10-yard line.