The Iowa Hawkeyes close their regular season at Nebraska with a chance to make some program history if they can reclaim the Heroes Trophy.
Though their path to the Big Ten Championship game is already completed, the Hawkeyes want to collect a 10th win on the season and avenge their loss versus the Huskers a season ago. If Iowa beats Nebraska, the Hawkeyes would claim their 11th season with 10 or more wins in program history.
It would represent the eighth time they won 10 or more games under the direction of head football coach Kirk Ferentz and the seventh time in program history that Iowa won 10 or more games in the regular season.
Iowa had beaten Nebraska seven times in a row before dropping last season’s contest, 24-17. That upset loss at Kinnick Stadium kept the Hawkeyes from clinching the Big Ten West outright.
One of the key story lines a season ago was how the injury bug affected Iowa versus Nebraska. The Hawkeyes lost both starting quarterback Spencer Petras and star cornerback Cooper DeJean to injury in the first quarter.
DeJean’s replacement, then-freshman TJ Hall, was beaten twice by Husker receiver Trey Palmer for touchdowns of 87 and 18 yards. Of course, Iowa will be playing this year’s game against Nebraska minus DeJean as well.
Redshirt freshman cornerback Deshaun Lee is slated to start opposite junior cornerback Jermari Harris. Freshman John Nestor and sophomore Deavin Hilson are listed as the respective backups for each.
How will that affect this battle for the Heroes Trophy? ESPN’s updated matchup predictor gives Iowa a 61% chance to top Nebraska. That’s actually a modest increase from the 59.3% chance ESPN’s matchup predictor gave Iowa two weeks ago.
It’s also a 4% increase from the 57% chance ESPN’s matchup predictor gave Iowa to beat Nebraska in the July preseason update.
Kickoff is slated for 11 a.m. CT on this Friday, Nov. 24 on CBS from Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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