httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH37gGf3SUY
Iowa tight end Henry Krieger Coble looks for an opening in the second quarter Friday.
THE BIG PICTURE: Iowa took advantage of Nebraska’s carelessness – a number of head-scratching turnovers, a slew of penalties – to run past the rival Cornhuskers and maintain a perfect record in advance of the Big Ten Conference championship game.
As throughout its undefeated season, Iowa contrasted its opponent’s sloppiness by protecting the football and capitalizing on mistakes.
Not that Iowa didn’t show some flash: Jordan Canzeri had two long touchdown runs on back-to-back possessions, with the latter, a 68-yard untouched run down the left sideline, putting Nebraska down by 11 points in the third quarter.
As with most Iowa wins, this one was not aesthetically pleasing.
That’s Iowa football, for better or worse, and the unbeaten Hawkeyes continued their charge for a perfect regular season and top-four finish.
While this style of play has Iowa flying under the radar – and very likely an underdog against the Spartans, let alone Clemson, Alabama or another in the Playoff – it also has Iowa unbeaten.
Until now neither Kirk Ferentz nor any other coach had been 12-0 at Iowa.
BREAKOUT PLAYER: Iowa freshman defensive end Parker Hesse was inserted into the starting lineup in October, after the Hawkeyes lost all-conference senior Drew Ott to a season-ending knee injury.