The cloud that has been over Nebraska football since it last beat Iowa, in 2014, seemed to lift in the second half of the meeting between the two teams on Nov. 29 in Lincoln.

Whatever changes the Huskers made at halftime appeared to fully dismantle the Hawkeye offense. Nebraska tried to answer an explosive Hawkeye rushing attack in the first half with a pick-6 by Cam Taylor-Britt, but the Huskers were down 24-10 at halftime.

The tide changed soon after. Nebraska’s 131 yards and 14 points in the third quarter knotted the game at 24 heading into the final quarter, and an Iowa offense that only gained 7 yards in the third quarter was on its final leg.

“There’s a lot of ebb and flow in the game; the game’s designed to be tough,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “It’s tough on you physically, it’s tougher on you mentally, probably. So, if you’re doing things right, you just have to learn to push through the good and the bad. Sometimes the good can be more distracting, [so] just try to keep your eyes where they need to be, right down the middle of the road.”

All the Iowa offense needed was one drive. The Hawkeyes had only netted 78 yards in the second half when it got the ball back with 32 seconds on the clock after a Husker punt. But as the team left the sideline for the last opportunity with overtime looming, thoughts were not on scoring a touchdown. Quarterback Nate Stanley said the only thing on the minds of the players was getting within striking distance for kicker Keith Duncan.

“We knew we didn’t have to score a touchdown; we just had to get into field-goal range,” Stanley said. “We felt confident that we were going to be able to make plays out there.”

As the clock churned, the Nebraska comeback bid seemed to be heading toward overtime. A long pass to Nico Ragaini — which seemed at first to be complete — was overturned. But two subsequent 22-yard completions to Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Sam LaPorta — which made up nearly half of Stanley’s 99 passing yards on the day — put the team in field-goal range.

“We were talking on the sidelines: If they leave any time on this clock for us, we’re going to do what we have to do, get down there, and send Keith out,” Smith-Marestte said.

After Iowa’s 2-point loss to Wisconsin on Nov. 9, a culmination of near-misses has plagued Iowa. The team lost its three games this season by only 14 combined points. But since that loss at Wisconsin, the script has flipped for the Hawkeyes, and each of their last three wins have been by 10 points or fewer.

“It takes the right kind of players,” Ferentz said. “We’ve got guys who are high-character guys that work hard. They’re able to sustain through something like a month ago, go through a tough loss like that, and show up on Monday with their eyes straight ahead. A lot of things have to happen.”