Huskers Head to Iowa for Regular-Season Finale

GAME 12: NEBRASKA at IOWA
NOV. 28, 2014 | KINNICK STADIUM
IOWA CITY, IOWA. | 11 a.m. (CT)

BROADCAST INFO
TV - ABC
RADIO - Husker Sports Network
SATELLITE RADIO - Sirius Channel 91, XM 91
INTERNET RADIO - Huskers.com

HUSKERS
Record: 8-3, 4-3
Rankings: AP-RV; Coaches-RV
Last Game: lost to Minnesota, 28-24
Coach: Bo Pelini
Career/NU Record: 66-27/7th year 
vs. Iowa: 2-1

HAWKEYES
Record: 7-4, 4-3
Rankings: AP-NR; Coaches-RV
Last Game: lost to Wisconsin, 26-24
Coach: Kirk Ferentz
Career/UI Record: 115-83, 16th year/127-104, 19th year
vs. Nebraska: 1-4

The Matchup
Nebraska completes the 2014 regular season on Friday with its traditional Black Friday contest. The Huskers will travel to Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes in a Big Ten West Division matchup. Kickoff at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium is set for 11 a.m. CT with the game nationally televised by ABC.

The Huskers enter the contest with an 8-3 overall record, including a 4-3 mark in Big Ten Conference play. Nebraska is coming off a 28-24 loss to Minnesota on Senior Day at Memorial Stadium that saw the Gophers battle from two touchdowns down for a victory.

The loss to Minnesota dropped Nebraska from both the Associated Press poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll. A win on Friday would give Nebraska nine wins for the seventh straight season, joining only Alabama and Oregon in that exclusive group.

Iowa comes into the contest tied with Nebraska in the West Division standings at 4-3 in conference play, while owning a 7-4 overall record. The Hawkeyes suffered a 26-24 setback against division leader Wisconsin last Saturday in Iowa City, ending their chances of a berth in the Big Ten Championship Game. The Hawkeyes have a stout defense, limiting opponents to just 331 total yards and 23 points per game.

The schools will once again have the Heroes Trophy on the line in Friday’s matchup.

The Series
Nebraska holds a 28-13-3 all-time edge between the two schools, including winning two of three games since the schools have both been in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska owns a 9-6 edge in games between the schools in Iowa City, including a 13-7 victory in 2012.

The Coaches
Nebraska: Bo Pelini (Ohio State, ‘90) owns a 66-27 record (.710) in his seventh season as head coach. He has guided NU to nine or more wins in each of his first six seasons as head coach, joining Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne in accomplishing that feat at Nebraska. His 66 wins trail only Osborne and Devaney on the NU wins list. Pelini joins Alabama’s Nick Saban as the only head coaches in the nation to win nine or more games each of the past six seasons.

Iowa: Kirk Ferentz (Connecticut, ‘78) is in his 16th season as Iowa’s head coach. He owns a 115-83 record with the Hawkeyes and a 127-104 overall record in 19 seasons as a college head coach. Ferentz has guided Iowa to bowl eligibility in 13 of the past 14 seasons, and he has been named Big Ten Coach of the Year three times. Ferentz previously served as the head coach at Maine from 1990 to 1992 and was an Iowa assistant for nine seasons.

Nebraska Football
Nebraska is 873-360-40 all-time, one of just eight schools with 800 all-time victories 
- Nebraska has won five national championships (1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997).
- The Cornhuskers have won 43 conference championships.
- NU’s 50 all-time bowl appearances rank third nationally.
- Since 1970, NU has 439 wins, 24 more than any other school.
- Nebraska’s 107 football Academic All-Americans lead the nation.
- The Huskers have 110 All-Americans in school history.

Scouting Iowa
Iowa seeks its eighth win of the season on Friday, when the Hawkeyes host the Huskers on the day after Thanksgiving. Iowa brings a 7-4 record into the matchup, including a 4-3 mark in Big Ten Conference play. Against common opponents this season, both Nebraska and Iowa have posted wins over Illinois, Northwestern and Purdue, while each has lost to Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Three of Iowa’s eight wins have been decided by one score or less, while three of the Hawkeyes’ four losses have been by seven or fewer points.

Offensively, Iowa is averaging 27.7 points per game to rank 75th nationally. The Hawkeyes average 158.6 rushing yards per game and 243.1 passing yards per game. Mark Weisman is Iowa’s leading rusher with 720 yards and 14 touchdowns. No other Hawkeye has rushed for more than 319 yards.

Through the air, quarterback Jake Rudock is completing 64.2 percent of his passes and has thrown for 2,174 yards and 14 touchdowns against just four interceptions. Kevonte Martin-Manley has been Rudock’s favorite target, catching 43 passes for 431 yards.

Defensively, Iowa is allowing only 331.9 yards per game to rank 21st nationally in total defense. The Hawkeyes are allowing 22.8 points per game to rank 33rd nationally. Iowa has allowed the 13th-fewest first downs of any team in the country, while allowing the eighth-fewest passing yards.

Iowa has also been a well disciplined team this fall, ranking third nationally in fewest penalties per game and second in fewest penalty yards per game.

Series History
Nebraska leads the all-time series with Iowa, 28-13-3, including a 9-6 advantage at Iowa City. The Hawkeyes won last year’s matchup, 38-17 in Lincoln, as Iowa is looking to win consecutive games against Nebraska for the first time since winning three straight games from 1942 to 1944. The Hawkeyes are also seeking their first win over Nebraska at Kinnick Stadium since a 10-7 upset victory over No. 7 Nebraska in 1981. Nebraska and Head Coach Bo Pelini are 2-1 against Iowa since the Huskers joined the Big Ten Conference prior to the 2011 season. Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz is 1-4 in his career against Nebraska.

Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini
Bo Pelini is in his seventh season as Nebraska’s head coach and owns a 66-27 record with the Huskers. Pelini has won or shared four divisional titles in his first six seasons as head coach, including the 2012 Big Ten Legends Division crown. He guided NU to three straight Big 12 North Division crowns from 2008 to 2010, becoming the first coach in the history of the Big 12 to win at least a share of a division title in each of his first three years. 

He has guided Nebraska to at least nine wins each of his six seasons, and three 10-win seasons. Pelini is third on the Nebraska career victories list, trailing only Tom Osborne and Bob Devaney. Pelini is one victory from reaching nine wins for a seventh straight season.

Pelini took charge of the Huskers after a highly successful five-year run as a collegiate defensive coordinator, including orchestrating NU’s defensive efforts in 2003. Pelini picked up his first college head coaching victory as NU’s interim coach in the 2003 Alamo Bowl against Michigan State.

Following his one season at Nebraska, Pelini served as the co-defensive coordinator at Oklahoma in 2004, helping the Sooners to the Big 12 title and BCS title game. He then followed with three seasons as the defensive coordinator at LSU. With the Tigers, Pelini led three consecutive defenses to No. 3 national rankings in total defense. He culminated his time in Baton Rouge by helping the Tigers to the 2007 national championship.

In addition to his five seasons as an assistant at the collegiate level, Pelini coached in the NFL for nine seasons, serving three years each with the San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers. Pelini was a team captain and four-year letterman as a safety at Ohio State from 1987 to 1990.

Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz
Kirk Ferentz owns a 115-83 record in his 16th season at Iowa, including a 68-59 record in Big Ten Conference play. Ferentz is looking to lead the Hawkeyes to back-to-back winning conference seasons for the first time since 2008 and 2009. Iowa has earned bowl eligibility for the second straight season and for the 12th time in Ferentz’s career.

Ferentz owns a career record of 127-104, as he guided Maine to a 12-21 record in his only other head coaching stop from 1990 to 1992. After spending three seasons at Maine, Ferentz coached the offensive line for the Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens organization for six seasons from 1993 to 1998. His first game as Iowa’s head coach was a 42-7 home loss to No. 5 Nebraska on Sept. 4, 1999.

A Connecticut graduate, Ferentz began his coaching career as a student assistant at his alma mater in 1977. He then spent two seasons at Worcester Academy before spending the 1980 season as a graduate assistant at Pittsburgh. In his first full-time assistant job in the collegiate ranks, Ferentz coached the offensive line at Iowa for nine seasons from 1981 to 1989, before leaving to become Maine’s head coach.

Huskers Bidding for Seventh Straight Nine-Win Season
Nebraska stands at 8-3 heading into the regular-season finale at Iowa. The Huskers need one victory to reach nine wins for the seventh straight season under Head Coach Bo Pelini. Nebraska’s six straight nine-win seasons entering 2014 put Nebraska in elite company.

» Nebraska is one of three schools that has won at least nine games each of the past six seasons, joining Alabama and Oregon who have achieved nine wins in 2014.

» Pelini has guided Nebraska to 10-win seasons in three of his six seasons. With one more victory in 2014 Pelini would become just the sixth coach to win nine games in each of his first seven seasons at a Power Five Conference school. The others in the group include Tom Osborne (Nebraska), Barry Switzer (Oklahoma), Earle Bruce (Ohio State), Steve Spurrier (Florida) and Mack Brown (Texas).

» The six straight years with at least nine wins marks the first time NU has accomplished that since its NCAA record streak of 33 straight nine-win seasons from 1969 to 2001.

» Nebraska has 48 nine-win seasons in school history, including 40 since 1969. The Huskers’ 27 all-time 10-win seasons are third-most in college football history.

Huskers, Hawkeyes Set for Annual HyVee Heroes Game
Nebraska and Iowa will battle for the Heroes Trophy when they hit the field at Kinnick Stadium on Friday. The HyVee Heroes Game is the annual trophy game between Nebraska and Iowa. While both teams will aim to win the trophy on the field, both Nebraska and Iowa wished to make their annual meeting about more than just winning a football game. With that in mind, the schools partnered together to not only create a trophy, but to use a national stage to honor a citizen hero from each state.

In addition to the trophy that will be claimed by the winner of the game, both an Iowa and Nebraska native will be honored for extraordinary acts. Those winners will be announced early this week.

Friday After Thanksgiving Tradition Continues
Nebraska will continue its long-standing tradition of playing on Black Friday this week in Iowa City. Friday’s game with Iowa will mark the 25th consecutive season the Huskers have played on the day after Thanksgiving. NU met Oklahoma in the final six seasons of the Big Eight Conference (1990 to 1995), then played Colorado in all 15 of the Huskers’ Big 12 Conference years (1996 to 2010), before taking on Iowa each of the past four seasons.

Nebraska and Iowa are scheduled to conclude the season against each other on the day after Thanksgiving until at least 2019.

- Nebraska owns an 18-6 record since 1990 in games on the day after Thanksgiving, including a 5-1 record against Okahoma, an 11-4 mark against Colorado and 2-1 against Iowa. Nebraska is 8-3 in road games in that stretch, including a 13-7 win at Kinnick Stadium in 2012.

- This year’s game with Iowa marks the sixth straight year Nebraska has played on the Friday after Thanksgiving without a bye week.

- Nebraska’s post-Thanksgiving game has been nationally televised by ABC each of the past 24 years.

- NU is 5-1 in its regular-season finale under Bo Pelini and is 30-22 in the final game of the regular season since 1962. NU and Iowa closed the regular season against each other nine times from 1892 to 1916.

NU Rushing Attack Once Again Among Nation’s Best
Nebraska’s offense has relied on its rushing attack throughout the 2014 season. The Huskers average 256.2 rushing yards per game to rank fourth in the Big Ten and 14th nationally. The Huskers have rushed for better than 300 yards three times this season, including two games of more than 400 yards.

The Huskers exhibited a powerful running game in starting the season with a 5-0 record. Nebraska rolled up 498 rushing yards on Florida Atlantic, 343 yards on 54 attempts against Miami and 458 yards on 70 carries against Illinois. The rushing output against FAU was Nebraska’s best under Bo Pelini and the Huskers’ best since rushing for 641 yards at Baylor in 2001.

- Nebraska’s average of 256.2 rushing yards per game puts it on pace for the best rushing average in a season since running for 268.7 yards per game in 2002.

- Ameer Abdullah rushed for 208 yards on 22 carries against Illinois with three rushing touchdowns. Fellow I-back Imani Cross had a career-high 109 yards on 22 carries. The game marked the 77th time in school history Nebraska has had two or more 100-yard rushers, and the second time in 2014. Abdullah (232) and Terrell Newby (107) accomplished the feat against Florida Atlantic in the season opener.

- The 300+ rushing efforts against FAU, Miami and Illinois give Nebraska 18 games under Bo Pelini in which Nebraska has rushed for at least 300 yards. The Huskers are a perfect 18-0 in those games.

- Nebraska has reached at least 200 rushing yards in 23 games since the start of the 2012 season, including five times in 2013 and six times in 2014. NU is 11-0 since the start of the 2013 season when rushing for 200 or more yards.

- Nebraska has averaged better than 200 rushing yards per game for four straight seasons, and has ranked in the top 20 nationally each year from 2010 to 2013. NU led the Big Ten in rushing in 2012, and topped the Big 12 in rushing offense in 2010.

- NU’s 458 rushing yards against Illinois were its most in four years in Big Ten play, and its most against a conference foe since rushing for 641 yards at Baylor in 2001.

- Ameer Abdullah has surpassed 1,000 yards for the third straight season with 1,417 yards, giving Nebraska a 1,000-yard rusher for each of the past six seasons. That is the longest stretch for NU since the Huskers had at least one 1,000-yard rusher for seven straight seasons from 1979 to 1985.

Abdullah and Bell Permanently Linked in Nebraska Record Books
Seniors Ameer Abdullah and Kenny Bell have been linked throughout their Nebraska careers as leaders and playmakers for the Husker offense. Fittingly, the senior captains have twice hit signifcant milestones on the same day in 2014.

In the season opener against Florida Atlantic, the duo eclipsed milestone yardage marks.

- Abdullah cracked the 5,000-yard mark in career all-purpose yardage with a 241-yard effort. He has continued to pile up all-purpose yards throughout the season and now has a school-record 6,798 career all-purpose yards.

- Abdullah also surpassed 3,000 career rushing yards against FAU. Abdullah then surpassed 4,000 career rushing yards at Northwestern. Abdullah’s 4,394 career yards are second in school history and leave him 386 yards shy of Mike Rozier’s school record of 4,780 career rushing yards.

- Bell recorded his fourth career 100-yard receiving game with four catches for 116 yards vs. FAU, and surpassed 2,000 career receiving yards. He added his fifth 100-yard game with five catches for 105 yards against Illinois, including a 63-yard TD reception. Bell has increased his career total to 2,565 receiving yards, surpassing Johnny Rodgers’ previous record of 2,479 career receiving yards.

In a 42-24 win over Rutgers on Oct. 25, Abdullah and Bell once again shared a day of re-writing the record book. Abdullah amassed a school-record 341 all-purpose yards, including 225 rushing yards. Bell had six receptions against the Scarlet Knights, moving him past Nate Swift to the top of the NU career receptions list. Bell’s total now sits at 171 career receptions.

Blackshirts Look to Get Back on Track at Iowa
The Nebraska defense was solid through the first half of the 2014 season, helping Nebraska to a 5-1 record. The Huskers began the second half of the year with a dominant second-half effort at Northwestern, keying NU’s 38-17 victory. After halftime, Northwestern managed just 28 total yards and three first downs.

Nebraska came back with a solid efforts against Rutgers and Purdue. NU held the Scarlet Knights to just seven points before halftime. In the second quarter, Rutgers rushed for minus-2 yards and had just 25 yards of total offense. Purdue converted just 2-of-16 third downs and completed only 18-of-46 pass attempts.

The defense took a step back at Wisconsin, allowing the Badgers 59 points and 627 total yards, and Minnesota followed with 281 rushing yards.

The Huskers are allowing an average of 372.8 yards per game, while opponents are scoring 24.0 points per contest.

- The Blackshirts have excelled against the pass, allowing opponents to complete just 47.3 percent of their passes, the best mark in the nation. Nebraska has held six of seven Big Ten opponents to less than 50 percent passing and is holding conference foes to a 44.0 completion percentage.

- Nebraska ranks second in the Big Ten and fourth nationally in pass efficiency defense.

- Nebraska is once again one of the nation’s stingiest third-down defenses. Opponents have converted just 28.3 percent (45-159) of their third-down attempts against the NU defense, a rate that ranks third in the Big Ten and fifth nationally. In seven Big Ten games, opponents have converted just 27.7 percent of their third downs (26-94), the best by a Big Ten defense.

Nebraska Reaches 50 Bowl Appearances; Headed for 51st in 2014
Nebraska participated in its 50th all-time bowl game with its appearance in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl on Jan. 1, 2014. Nebraska joined Alabama (60) and Texas (52) as the only schools to play in 50 bowl games in school history.

The Huskers have played in the postseason in 43 of the past 45 seasons, including an NCAA-record 35 straight years from 1969 to 2003. Nebraska owns a 25-25 all-time bowl record. NU’s 25 all-time bowl victories rank seventh nationally.

Nebraska is 3-3 in bowl games during Bo Pelini’s tenure as full-time head coach and 4-3 under Pelini overall, including the 2003 Alamo Bowl when he served as interim head coach.

Nebraska played the first of its 50 bowls in the Rose Bowl, when No. 7 Nebraska lost to No. 2 Stanford, 21-13, following the 1940 season. NU’s 35 consecutive bowls began with a 45-6 win over Georgia in the 1969 Sun Bowl, and ended in 2004. The Huskers have won 11 of 18 bowl games since the 1994 season.

Nebraska has secured its 51st bowl trip in 2014.

Click on the "Game Notes" link in the related links section at the top of this page for more notes on this weekend's game.