Huskers end a bewildering streak and may keep Hawkeyes from division title
The final game of the Mickey Joesph-era will be remembered for a win that neither of his two full-time predecessors could accomplish: a Black Friday victory.
Nebraska football upset Iowa 24-17 Friday. The win ends a seven-game losing streak to the Hawkeyes. The last non-interim head coach to beat Iowa was Bo Pelini.
The Huskers started out dominating the majority of all three phases.
After missing a field goal on their first possession, Nebraska got a pair of Casey Thompson to Trey Palmer touchdowns sandwiching a 21-yard Timmy Bleekrode made field goal.
On the other side of the ball, Iowa’s first half offense consisted of four punts and a pair of fumbles. The Hawkeyes managed just 57 yards before the break.
Then for a big special teams play, Nebraska’s first offensive possession of the third quarter stalled. Brian Buschini came on to punt and hit one to the Iowa 20.
The return man for Iowa couldn’t hold on and Garrett Nelson laid him out. The Huskers recovered and scored three plays later to go up 24-0.
But the Iowa offense, playing with backup quarterback Alex Padilla after starter Spencer Petras left late in the first quarter with an injury, began to show signs of life. The Hawkeyes managed to put together three scoring drives over four possessions.
One of those possessions was gifted with short field, courtesy of a fumble Rahmir Johnson fumble.
Despite having life, the Hawkeyes didn’t have time on their side. In the final couple minutes, Iowa had a pair of drives end on downs before Nebraska was able to dial up the victory formation and run out the clock.
Nebraska totaled 329 yards on the day while holding Iowa to 274.
Thompson completed 20-of-30 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns.
Palmer caught nine passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns, one of which went 87 yards. That’s the fifth-longest passing play in Nebraska history.
Palmer’s season receiving yards reached 1,043, breaking the school-record for a single-season. The previous record-holder was Stanley Morgan Jr. with 1,004 yards in 2018.
Johnson led the Huskers rushing attack with 52 yards. He was the only Nebraska player to reach double-digit rushing yards.
Despite the four-game losing streak, no bowl game to play for, and swirling coaching search reports, Joseph kept his team locked in to get a victory Husker fans have been craving for several years.
Nebraska closes one of the strangest years in Nebraska football history at 4-8, including 3-6 in the Big Ten Conference. Not exciting numbers, but at least the final moment of the 2022 campaign may have kept Iowa from winning the division and making the league title game.
Nebraska Postgame Notes
Nebraska at Iowa, Nov. 25, 2022, Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa
The Nebraska victory ended Iowa’s seven-game win streak in the series. It marked Nebraska’s first win over the Hawkeyes since a 37-34 overtime victory in Iowa City in 2014. Nebraska improved to 30-20-3 all-time in the series, including 11-9 in games in Iowa City. Iowa holds an 8-4 lead in the series since Nebraska joined the Big Ten.
The road team has won eight of the past 11 meetings in the series, including three Nebraska victories at Kinnick Stadium.
Receiver Trey Palmer caught nine passes for 165 yards and touchdowns of 87 and 18 yards from quarterback Casey Thompson. The 87-yard TD in the first quarter marked the fifth-longest passing play in Nebraska history and the longest play from scrimmage for Nebraska since a school-record 99-yard pass (Armstrong-Enunwa) on Jan. 1, 2014, in the Gator Bowl vs. Georgia. It was the longest play from scrimmage against Iowa since an 88-yard run by Wisconsin in 2014.
With his 165 receiving yards, Palmer increased his season yardage total to 1,043, setting a Nebraska single-season receiving yardage record. The previous record of 1,004 yards was held by Stanley Morgan Jr. in 2018.
Palmer’s 165-yard effort marked his third 100-yard receiving game of the season (also Indiana, Purdue). He is the only player in the Big Ten with three 150-yard receiving games in conference play this season.
Palmer’s nine receptions increased his season receptions total to 71. He finished with the most receptions by a wide receiver in school history and ranked second overall on Nebraska’s single-season receptions list, trailing only I-back Marlon Lucky’s 75 receptions in 2007.
Palmer finished the season with nine receiving touchdowns, tying for fifth place on the Nebraska season TD receptions list. Palmer had three games this season with two touchdown catches (Purdue, Wisconsin, Iowa).
Outside linebacker Caleb Tannor earned the start and played in his 56th career game as a Husker. His 56 games ties a Nebraska school record for games played, matching Cameron Meredith’s 56 games from 2008 to 2012. Tannor had a second-quarter sack, giving him 2.5 sacks this season and 10 in his career.
Quarterback Casey Thompson completed 20-of-30 passes for 278 yards and a season-high three touchdowns. Thompson had five previous games with two touchdown passes. Thompson has 17 touchdown passes this season tying him for 10th on the single-season touchdown passes list.
Cornerback Quinton Newsome had a first-quarter sack which caused a fumble. It marked Newsome’s second sack of the 2022 season and the third of his career. It was the second forced fumble of Newsome’s career. The fumble was recovered by Ernest Hausmann which marked his first career fumble recovery.
Linebacker Eteva Mauga-Clements had an 18-yard sack and forced fumble in the second quarter. It marked Mauga-Clements’ first career sack and first career forced fumble. Garrett Nelson returned the fumble 13 yards for his second fumble recovery of 2022 and his career.
Mauga-Clements started his second game of the season and had a career-high seven tackles in his final game as a Husker.
Linebacker Chris Kolarevic sealed the win with an interception with 42 seconds remaining. The interception was the third of his career and his first as a Husker.
Receiver Alante Brown recovered a fumbled Iowa punt in the third quarter for his first career fumble recovery. The fumble recovery resulted in a Nebraska touchdown for a 24-0 lead.
Receiver Marcus Washington had a 14-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter for his first touchdown catch as a Husker.
Nebraska’s four takeaways were a season high and its +3 turnover margin was its best since a game at Maryland in the 2019 season.
Nebraska had three sacks in the game, tying its season high which occurred in three other games.
Nebraska held Iowa scoreless in the first half, marking the third time in the past four games the Huskers have blanked the opponent in the first half. It marked the first time NU has shut out an opponent in the first half of road game since 2019 at Maryland.
