Leistikow's thoughts after Iowa football vs Nebraska: Another walk-off moment for Hawkeyes

Leistikow’s thoughts after Iowa football vs Nebraska: Another walk-off moment for Hawkeyes

Posted by Admin November 30, 2024 Football

IOWA CITY − For the second straight year in the Iowa-Nebraska rivalry, the latter stages of the fourth quarter brought with it a 10-10 deadlock.

But this time, the shoe was on the other Iowa foot.

Drew Stevens, a year after being benched at halftime of Iowa’s game at Nebraska, delivered a 53-yard walk-off field goal for the Hawkeyes’ only lead of the game and a dramatic 13-10 win before an unhinged, freezing-cold crowd at Kinnick Stadium.

A year ago, Ethan Hurkett’s improbable interception in the final minute set up Marshall Meeder’s fluttering 39-yard field goal gave the Hawkeyes a 13-10 walk-off win in Lincoln, securing the Heroes Trophy.

This time, Max Llewellyn was the defensive hero for the Hawkeyes, who finished their regular season with an 8-4 record while sending Nebraska to a devastating loss and a 6-6 finish.

If not for the heroics of Kaleb Johnson, the Hawkeyes could’ve gotten run out of their own building.

Johnson made a super-human play on the first play of the fourth quarter with Iowa behind, 10-3, and its offense nearing the finish of a completely futile performance. But on a screen pass on second-and-13, Johnson bounced off one tackler at the line of scrimmage, looked to be stacked up again for a short gain but kept his legs driving and somehow broke away up the right sideline. From there, Johnson made a sharp cutback near midfield to split two Nebraska defenders who collided and then outraced every Cornhusker to the end zone for a 72-yard touchdown reception. Credit Dayton Howard for continuing to stick with the play and offer some help with downfield blocking.

On this night, it felt like a Johnson long-gainer or defensive touchdown would be the only two ways for Iowa to get into the end zone, and that’s exactly what happened to even the score at 10-10 and turn this into a frantic finish for the 69,250 fans who braved the frigid cold at Kinnick Stadium.

An unusual third quarter gave the Hawkeyes a chance

With the exception of the Ohio State game, the third quarter has been Iowa’s quarter this season. The Hawkeyes owned a 115-55 edge in the third coming into this game and in bizarre fashion ended up winning the third quarter, 3-0.

Nebraska missed a short field goal wide left with 9:26 left in the third to punctuate a strong opening drive out of halftime. Iowa picked up a field goal of its own with 4:30 left in the period, but that was a major disappointment after the game’s first turnover set the offense up for more. John Nestor recovered a botched punt-return attempt at the Cornhuskers’ 4-yard line. But two unsuccessful Johnson runs and a 2-yard pass to Luke Lachey left Iowa with fourth-and-goal at the 2, and Kirk Ferentz opted to take the three points on a Stevens 20-yard kick.

Iowa entered the fourth quarter with 65 total yards but still had a chance, down 10-3.

Iowa’s first-down plays in the first half? Run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run

One was a Jackson Stratton scramble for 2 yards, but the point remains the same. Eight plays, no passes. The Hawkeyes were so timid to rely on the pass that Nebraska fearlessly stacked the box to absolutely control the first half.

The Hawkeyes gained 20 first-half yards on six-plus possessions. Twenty snaps, 20 yards, one first down. Johnson, the Big Ten rushing leader, popped one first-down run for 11 yards, but his other six first-down carries went for minus-1, minus-1, 4, minus-1, 4 and 0.

When people complain that defenses “stack the box” sometimes that can be exaggerated. But Nebraska legitimately had all 11 defenders within seven yards of the line of scrimmage at times, daring offensive coordinator Tim Lester to dial up a pass. Stratton was 2-for-6 passing in the first half for 8 yards and was sacked once for minus-6 rushing.

Lester has been good at second-half adjustments all year. He was probably slow to the punch on this one. But on the three-play drive that ended with Johnson’s 72-yard touchdown catch, it started with a 17-yard pass from Stratton to Jacob Gill. Given Nebraska’s game plan defensively, it made sense to finally open things up.

Poor punting conditions alter Iowa’s usual game plan

In addition to the poor first-half offense, Iowa’s punt game was about as bad as it’s been all year in the opening 30 minutes. Freshman Rhys Dakin’s first cold-weather game got off to a rough start, with uncharacteristically ugly-looking kicks compared to his usual high spirals.

It’s not like the kicks were terrible, but having four years of Tory Taylor probably makes the team feel spoiled. For example, Ferentz opted to punt on fourth-and-inches from Nebraska’s 49-yard line in the first quarter. Dakin’s wobbly kick of 32 yards to Nebraska’s 17 wasn’t the coffin-corner precision needed to reward such a decision.

After Dakin’s first punt of the day went for 45 yards, his next five were 34, 32, 36, 34 and 33 for a 35.7 average. Considering Dakin entered with a 44.9-yard average that ranked 18th in the nation, this was a considerable negative in a back-and-forth first half where the score was 3-0 after 11 possessions. Think about five first downs’ worth of yardage that Iowa normally counts on as gone.

To be fair, Nebraska punter Brian Buschini averaged only 33.8 yards per kick in the decisive first half. Cold-weather punting is rarely a pretty sight.

Dakin’s second-half punting was much better. His high third-quarter punt definitely contributed to the Nebraska muff. And he hit one for 49 yards to start the fourth quarter, then 54 when Iowa needed it to push Nebraska back to its own 20 with 1:42 left.

No bowl for Wisconsin; what’s next for Iowa?

Black Friday began with a somewhat shocking development, considering where Wisconsin football felt it was when hiring Luke Fickell two years ago. With a 24-7 home loss to Minnesota, the Badgers went from a 5-2 start to a 5-7 finish … and, thus, had their 22-year streak of bowl games come to an end.

That loss of December bowl prep is a big deal for a developmental program, and that’s why Iowa is always thrilled to get any bowl-game bid. Ferentz’s teams have been invited to bowl games for 12 straight years and 16 of the last 17. The Hawkeyes use the extra December practices to ramp up reps for younger players who have been either special-teamers or scout-teamers before cycling back to the “regulars” in the last week or two before the game.

With the win, the most probable bowl destination for Iowa is the Dec. 31 Reliaquest Bowl in Tampa. That’s the former Outback Bowl, a game the Hawkeyes have played in six times under Ferentz but not since the 2018 season. Assuming four Big Ten teams make the playoff (Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana), that would likely put Illinois in the Citrus (which wants a fresh team after having Iowa two of the past three years) and Iowa in Tampa against an SEC opponent to be determined.

Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has served for 30 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad’s text-message group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on X.