Iowa star linebacker Jay Higgins experienced the pregame captain handshake many times throughout his illustrious football career. Walking onto the field at Kinnick Stadium, he expected a moment of mutual respect between two fierce rivals.
Turned out cordiality was only for the home team.
Higgins, alongside Quinn Schulte, Luke Lachey, and Logan Jones put their hands out to the four Nebraska captains, only to be shunned from the gesture.
That, combined with Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule walking through Iowa’s warmups, let Higgins know this year’s rivalry had an added tension.
“That was the first time ever that I didn’t get a handshake going out there at midfield,” Higgins said. “That was a little weird… We immediately knew what type of game this was.”
The act certainly fueled the preexisting fire as Iowa overcame a subpar first-half performance that saw Nebraska gain 182 total yards of offense and hold a 10-0 lead heading into halftime. Emboldened by belief, several key defenders stepped up in the clutch – a feat the Hawkeye defense has yet to do this season.
“We came into the locker room at halftime and we just talked about how we knew we were going to win,” sixth-year linebacker Nick Jackson said. “We were saying we don’t know how, we don’t know what’s going to happen, but we know we’re going to win.”
The Cornhuskers logged 152 total yards on 39 plays through the entire second half, though they saw only one scoring opportunity in which kicker John Hohl botched the 34-yard field goal on the first drive of the half.
Iowa’s first possession of the half resulted in five plays before Rhys Dakin logged a 47-yard punt deep in opposing territory. Nebraska punt returner Vincent Shavers Jr. muffed the punt and Iowa’s John Nestor recovered the ball at the four-yard line.
Three plays later the Hawkeyes settled for the 20-yard field goal. One-score game.
The Hawkeye defense forced a Cornhusker punt the following possession, and the defense was rewarded with Iowa star running back Kaleb Johnson taking a screen pass 72 yards for the game-tying touchdown.
“You know that Marshawn Lynch iconic run,” Jackson said in comparison to Johnson’s touchdown run. “I mean, he trucked a dude, he juked a dude, he outran a dude. I just don’t know what more you can do on that run.”
The trio of Higgins, safety Sebastian Castro, and defensive lineman Ethan Hurkett combined for 10 fourth-quarter tackles, leading a swarming defense that pressed Nebraska into consecutive punts which Iowa failed to capitalize on.
The Hawkeye defense had chances for crucial late stops against Iowa State, Michigan State, and UCLA, but came up empty-handed. Friday night, they emerged with the ball and an improbable chance to take the lead on a field goal: identical to last year’s game in Lincoln.
And after a relatively quiet night, Iowa defensive lineman Max Llewellyn flew past Nebraska’s. right tackle and slammed into Raiola, knocking the ball loose and scooping it up on the turf.
“I came around the corner and the football’s right down by the hip,” Llewellyn said. “I kind of reached out and I had the ball in my hand… I knew for sure that it was a turnover.”
“This season has been up-and-down, and for us to end [it] like this… You can’t draw it up any better than this,” he added.
A junior who recorded only eight tackles last season, Lllewellyn’s breakout 2024 campaign reached its signature moment, as had the Hawkeye defensive unit.
After Stevens won the game for Iowa, nearly the whole team rushed towards the north end zone and celebrated in a moshpit-like frenzy — except for Higgins, who immediately ran up to Rhule with his hand extended.
“[In] the first series [of the game], we were on their sideline and I got a little close to their head coach,” Higgins said. “I said, ‘Probably wasn’t a good idea to not shake our hands.’ He goes, ‘Who are you?’”
It’s unknown if Rhule recognized Higgins’ No. 34 jersey when the clock struck zeroes, but the linebacker wanted to give a friendly reminder – not just to his own identity but that of the defense, who stepped up when it counted.