One Iowa football game is meant to be played on Friday
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Scheduling a college football game on a Friday is almost always a horrible idea and supported for the wrong reasons, but there is one exception:
Iowa versus Nebraska.
The rivalry works for so many reasons, including the timing of it and the disdain felt by both fan bases toward each other.
Both teams are usually pretty good, too, including this season in which Nebraska and Iowa have records of 9-2 and 7-4, respectively, heading into Friday’s game at Kinnick Stadium.
Nebraska isn’t what it used to be 20 years ago, while Iowa isn’t what many of its fans expected it to be three months ago.
One of those narratives would gain steam for the loser of Friday’s game, whereas the winner would end the regular season with a three-game winning streak and with plenty of momentum for a bowl game.
Nebraska enters the game needing a victory over Iowa and a Wisconsin loss to Minnesota on Saturday to advance to the Big Ten Championship game.
So there is actually more riding on the game for Nebraska, although, don’t try telling that to an Iowa player.
A victory almost certainly would send Iowa to the Holiday Bowl in sunny San Diego for the first time since 1991. That would be a nice reward for a team that has struggled mightily at times in a season that just three weeks appeared to be unraveling.
A loss likely would send Iowa to the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., which would qualify as a nice consolation prize, considering how cool Nashville is as a vacation spot, the convenient location and that Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard grew up nearby.
Iowa still has a chance to finish 9-4 or 7-6, which is a wide gap in terms of victories, perception and happiness.
Throw in the much-admired Heroes Trophy, which goes to the winning team, and Friday’s game has plenty on the line for both teams.
There is uncertainty at quarterback for Nebraska with starter Tommy Armstrong nursing a hamstring injury and with backup Ryker Fyfe hobbled by a wrist injury.
We can assume that Iowa has prepared to face all of Nebraska’s quarterbacks, but that Armstrong’s dual-threat capability is probably what the Iowa defenders expect to see on Friday.
“You’ve got to prepare for any of them they can bring out there,” said Iowa linebacker Josey Jewel. “So right now, you just have to understand which ones can do which kind of stuff to you and understand what fits the best.”
As far as being a rivalry, Iowa versus Nebraska still has much room for improvement, as Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz pointed out during his weekly press conference on Tuesday.
“First of all, this isn't a rivalry,” Ferentz said. “We haven't played that much. Historically we haven't played all that often. We're border rivals, but were in two different conferences for so many years. So is Iowa State, I get that, but we played them not forever, but forever for me, because I got here in '81 after the thing started. So, I think that's a little different deal, plus we're in the same state.
“But I think it has the makings of and the potential to be.”
Friday will be the 47th meeting between the two teams, but just the 12th meeting since 1979.
Nebraska won seven of eight games from 1979 to 2012, including three games by at least 35 points, but Iowa has won two of the last three games, with both victories coming in Lincoln, Neb.
Ferentz was in his first season as the Iowa offensive line coach the last time Iowa defeated Nebraska at Kinnick Stadium in 1981.
That team would go on to win the Big Ten title and play in the Rose Bowl under head coach Hayden Fry. The victory over Nebraska in 1981 was one of the first signs of Iowa’s resurgence after nearly two decades of futility.
A lot has changed since then with Nebraska now a member of the Big Ten and Iowa’s opponent each year on Black Friday.
Friday usually belongs to high school football, and deservedly so. It's a shame that the Big Ten Conference has agreed to play some night games on Friday because it'll take away from the interest in high school football,
Iowa versus Nebraska doesn't do that because it's played on the one Friday that makes sense.