Nebraska Spoils Hawkeyes' Senior Day

Iowa Misses Chance to Clinch Big Ten West Title Friday

Iowa's Alex Padilla (8) is rushed by Nebraska's Eteva Mauga-Clements (5) on Nov. 25, 2022 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Iowa woke up Friday morning with a chance to win the Big Ten West Division title.

Nebraska wide receiver Trey Palmer woke up feeling, he said, “pissed off.”

Anger won.

Nebraska’s 24-17 win over the Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium came from a team that looked like it had something to play for, while the team that actually had something to play for didn’t show any life until a final, frantic rally that had little chance of succeeding.

“It hurts,” said running back Kaleb Johnson.

“(The emotions) are about what you expect,” said backup quarterback Alex Padilla, who threw for 141 yards and a touchdown in relief of Spencer Petras, who left early in the game with a shoulder injury.”

The Huskers (4-8 overall, 3-6 Big Ten), playing what looks to be the last game for interim head coach Mickey Joseph, gave him a win he savored.

“One thing I can say is they fought,” Joseph said. “They fought every Saturday they came out. Nobody can deny that.”

And they had a fight that was just more than what a potential division champion had, and that stung the Hawkeyes.

Iowa (7-5, 5-4) had three fumbles that led to 17 Nebraska points. The Hawkeyes had seven penalties for 65 yards.

“Penalties killed us and we turned the ball over,” Iowa tight end Luke Lachey said. “‘Next play’ is always our mentality. It just didn’t work out tonight.”

“I don't think it was a lack of energy,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “I think it was just a lack … we didn't play clean enough. You have to do that if you're going to play conference football or any football. I'll go back to the thing — we all knew what was at stake, none of us are dumb, at least in that regard.

“Again, it's about winning football games. No matter what's at stake or not, it's about going out and playing hard, playing with good execution and playing clean football. We didn't play clean football today, and for whatever reason, that's what it was.”

The Hawkeyes were down 24-0 in the third quarter, carved by Nebraska quarterback Casey Thompson. He threw touchdown passes of 87 and 18 yards to Palmer in the first half, 14 yards for Marcus Washington in the third quarter.

Iowa ranked sixth nationally in passing defense, but the Huskers thought they could beat the Hawkeyes’ secondary. And when cornerback Cooper DeJean went out after being hit hard in the head in the first quarter, Thompson and Palmer went after freshman T.J. Hall.

“I didn’t feel like they could guard any of our receivers,” Thompson said. “I definitely didn’t think they could run with Trey. And obviously that showed.”

“We felt good with our receivers against their defensive backs,” Joseph said. “We thought they were going to have trouble guarding Trey. We talked to Trey this morning, ‘Just use your speed. Don’t tiptoe through them.'”

“They hit us big,” Iowa defensive tackle Noah Shannon said. “Maybe 75 yards or more. And then they had another one.”

Palmer, who would finish with nine catches for 165 yards, felt he could feast on the Hawkeyes.

“They can’t guard me,” Palmer said. “That’s all I saw. They can’t guard me, they can’t run with me.”

Palmer had posted on Twitter earlier in the day that he woke up angry. Asked what infuriated him, Palmer said, “My opponents. I don’t like Wisconsin. I don’t like Iowa. I just woke up feeling pissed. You see what happens when I wake up pissed off. I was extra pissed off today.”

Iowa would rally, hoping this Nebraska team would be like the others that collapsed under the weight of the Hawkeyes in what was a seven-game winning streak in the rivalry series.

Joseph had a message for his team.

“We told them, ‘You let Wisconsin off last week (a 15-14 loss). Don’t let Iowa off,'” Joseph said.

Johnson’s 44-yard run started a rally. Padilla’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Lachey closed the gap to 24-14. And after a fumble by Nebraska’s Rahmir Johnson was turned into a 45-yard Drew Stevens field goal, the Hawkeyes were within 24-17.

Such comebacks and last-second finishes were nothing new for the Hawkeyes in this series, but there would be no heroes this time in the Heroes Game.

Iowa got the ball twice in the last 3 minutes, 20 seconds. But Padilla threw an incompletion on fourth down in the first possession, an interception in the second possession.

“The reality is, we made it too much of a hill to climb,” Ferentz said.

“We gave ourselves a chance at the end, but another turnover killed us,” said Padilla, who was 16 of 33 passing for 141 yards. “Credit to my teammates, they played their hearts out. I thought all of us played our hearts out.

“Just came up short.”

Iowa’s season seemed dead when the Hawkeyes were 3-4 after the 54-10 loss at Ohio State on October 22. They won their next four and with just enough help around them, had a chance at a division title.

The West title hopes aren’t gone, but for the Hawkeyes to make a second consecutive trip to Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship game, Illinois has to lose to Northwestern and Purdue has to lose at Indiana. Tall tasks that Iowa didn’t want to comprehend after Friday’s game.

“I guess the thing I'd remember is the way the guys … like the second half, the guys don't quit,” Ferentz said. “They just keep playing, keep fighting, and we gave ourselves a chance today. We just didn't have enough gas in the tank to get it done.”