This season has Nebraska fans yearning for the glory days.
By Pete Ruden
It’s been a down year for Nebraska, and Cornhusker fans are missing the 1990s more than ever.
Nebraska, which started the season 1-2 after suffering losses to Oregon and Northern Illinois, has lost its last three games, allowing more than 50 points in two of those defeats.
The Huskers’ only conference wins are against Rutgers, Illinois, and Purdue, all of which have losing records.
While Iowa certainly shouldn’t look past the Huskers, especially given that the game is the last one of the regular season, it’s an opportunity to bounce back after a horrific 24-15 loss at home to Purdue.
In last season’s game, the Hawkeyes absolutely took it to then-No. 16 Nebraska with a 40-10 shellacking at Kinnick.
Iowa dominated on the ground, as LeShun Daniels and Akrum Wadley both rushed for more than 100 yards and combined for 3 touchdowns. The Hawkeyes almost doubled the Cornhuskers’ offensive production, outgaining them, 408 yards to 217.
Tanner Lee interceptions: 13
Transferring from Tulane after the graduation of Nebraska’s Tommy Armstrong Jr., Lee was set to be the man in Lincoln.
While that is somewhat the case — he is second in the Big Ten with 2,938 passing yards — he has had his problems.
Lee’s decision-making has been questionable at times, demonstrated by the 13 picks he has thrown, tied for the most in the conference.
He had an especially rough outcome in the team’s losses to Oregon and Northern Illinois. He threw 4 interceptions against the Ducks and followed that up with a 3-pick performance against the Huskies.
He has been free of making big mistakes in the past two games, but he threw 3 more in an overtime loss to Northwestern on Nov. 4.
He can also play at an extremely high level, as he showed in Nebraska’s 25-24 win over Purdue, in which he threw for 431 yards and tossed 2 touchdowns.
It’ll be interesting to see which Lee comes out against a Hawkeye defense that was torn apart by Elijah Sindelar last week.
Points allowed per game: 34.6
The Huskers have allowed 384 points on the season, the most in the Big Ten.
Teams have scored more than 35 points on Nebraska six times this season, while it has held teams under 20 only twice.
A large reason for the scoring outbursts is Nebraska’s so-called red-zone defense; teams score 88 percent of the time they get inside the 20-yard line.
Of the 50 touchdowns the Huskers have allowed on the season, 35 of them have come in the red zone.
Luckily for Nebraska, Iowa has one of the worst red-zone offenses in the conference, scoring on only 75.7 percent of those opportunities.
Morgan’s receiving yards per game: 91.2
Stanley Morgan has been a threat to opposing defenses all season on his way to scoring 8 touchdowns and recording 912 yards, which are tied for first and second in the conference.
Fans will be in for a treat when Morgan is matched against Iowa cornerback Josh Jackson, a Thorpe Award finalist who leads the country in passes defended (24) and interceptions (7).
Morgan’s 91.2 yards per game leads the Big Ten. If Nebraska does what Purdue did, successfully, and attacks the side of the field opposite Jackson, the Hawkeye secondary, and Hawkeye fans, could be in for a long day.