Iowa’s regular-season finale against Nebraska has a familiar feel to it, and not just because the game lands in the last spot on the calendar. The Hawkeyes will get the Cornhuskers in Kinnick Stadium at 11 a.m., with Iowa looking for a fourth straight win in the series and a chance to keep Matt Rhule from beating the Hawkeyes for the first time in his career.
The recent edge has been all Iowa’s. The Hawkeyes have won nine of the last 10 meetings, and last season’s 40-16 rout in Lincoln was another reminder of how this matchup has tilted. With the Heroes Trophy on the line, Iowa gets another shot to finish the job in front of its home crowd.
Rhule enters the season with pressure hanging over the program, especially after three Novembers that have gone badly for Nebraska. At Big Ten Football Media Days in Chicago, he pointed to the importance of his team’s leadership and its ability to change the conversation around the program.
“These guys, they've kind of erased the narratives,” Rhule said of his players in Chicago. “‘Nebraska can't win a close game’ They've erased that Nebraska. ‘There was a bowl game drought,’ they've erased that.”
Nebraska’s offseason brought plenty of roster turnover, including 17 transfers, but not much noise or public detail through the summer. The Cornhuskers also head into the year without Dylan Raiola at quarterback after he transferred to Oregon this offseason, and they have to replace running back Emmett Johnson, who was drafted in the fifth round by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Quarterback remains unsettled, with Rhule weighing UNLV transfer Anthony Colandrea against last year’s backup TJ Lateef. Colandrea’s numbers from last season - 3,459 passing yards, 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions - make him the more experienced option, while Lateef threw for 904 yards and five touchdowns. Rhule hasn’t named a starter, though Colandrea is viewed by media members as the projected choice.
Defensively, Nebraska does bring back two familiar names in the secondary. Cornerbacks Donovan Jones and Andrew Marshall were both steady pieces last season, and together they totaled 105 tackles with one interception apiece.
Iowa has also found ways to make Nebraska pay in recent seasons, whether through special teams or a breakout showing from tight end DJ Vonnahme. The Hawkeyes will try to keep that pattern going and close the year with the trophy in hand, while Nebraska looks to turn a long list of offseason changes into something more on the field.
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