By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – If we are to believe the narrative coming out of Lincoln, Neb., and throughout the entire state of Nebraska, Iowa will face the greatest 4-7 team in the history of college football on Friday at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa will face a Nebraska team that is so confident that one of its team captains didn’t even consider the possibility of losing to the Hawkeyes for the fourth year in a row when asked to comment on the Black Friday matchup in the moments after last Saturday’s 9-6 victory over Michigan State.

“I can’t wait to beat Iowa," said senior offensive guard Gerald Foster said. "I really can’t.”

With four victories in their last five games, the Nebraska players have reason to be confident under first-year head coach Scott Frost.

But they shouldn’t get carried away because it’s a bad look and because it's risky and could backfire, and because the Nebraska fans do enough of that already.

There isn’t a more devoted or a more delusional fan base than Nebraska football fans.

Spoiled by decades of dominance in football, Nebraska fans live in the past more than a history teacher does. Poke fun at their recent struggles and Nebraska fans will bring up the 1990s as if it's muscle memory.

Frost was hired to bring back that storied past and there probably isn’t one Nebraska fan who has even the slightest concern that he might fail.

It isn’t a matter of if with Nebraska fans, but when Frost will restore his beloved alma mater to dominance.

Frost connects the past with the present as the starting quarterback for Nebraska’s last national champion team in 1997.

He warned opponents at Big Ten media day in late July that the Cornhuskers would soon be on the rise.

“We’ll see how this first year goes,” Frost said at Big Ten media day.  “But people better get us now because we’re going to keep getting better.”

Frost looked kind of foolish when Nebraska started 0-6, but those tough times now seem like ancient history.

The Cornhuskers are explosive and versatile on offense and their much-maligned defense finally showed a pulse in the victory over Michigan State.

“This game is extremely important to us,” said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. “It's got a lot of weight, a lot of value, and we're giving it our utmost intention. Hopefully, we'll have great preparation all week long.

“You look at Nebraska, they're a team that's really riding high right now, playing with really good momentum. Like any new staff, a team with a new staff, teams go through transitional periods, and you could see that early with their play. But if you look at the last half of the season, you're seeing the team really come together. They've jelled, and they're playing really good football right now.”

Friday’s game should be important from Iowa’s perspective because it’ll be a chance to finish the regular season 8-4, a chance to send the 14 seniors out on a high note, a chance to finish with a winning record in conference play and a chance to send Nebraska a message that it still has a ways to go to catch Iowa.

If Iowa fans think Nebraska fans are insufferable now, imagine how they’ll be if Nebraska beats Iowa in football for the first time since 2014.

The last two games weren’t even competitive with Iowa winning by scores of 56-14 last season and 40-10 in 2016, and yet, a Nebraska team captain has more or less guaranteed a victory on Friday, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a Nebraska fan who doesn’t agree with him.

There were no bold statements or guarantees made by the Iowa players on Tuesday as they spoke with the media about facing Nebraska. It was all praise and respect, which is the Iowa way under Ferentz.

But you can bet that Parker Hesse and the other veteran leaders on the Iowa team will be ready to defend their home field on Friday, and will have the younger players ready as well.

The 14 seniors on the Iowa team have a chance to finish 4-0 against the Cornhuskers, but not once did any of them guarantee a victory over Nebraska to the media.

Iowa tight end Noah Fant, who is from Omaha, Neb., seemed to go out of his way to praise for Nebraska while talking to the media on Tuesday. He singled out Nebraska dual-threat quarterback Adrian Martinez as a player who really impresses him.

"Just from hearing things back home and kind of watching some highlights of them, I've seen him do some really good things for them," said Fant, who scored two touchdowns and had 116 receiving yards against Nebraska last season. "And defensive-wise, I've seen a lot of good things from just their whole defense as a whole."

Fant was really being kind about the Nebraska defense, because even with the strong performance against Michigan State last Saturday, the Cornhuskers still are ranked 12th in the Big Ten in total defense, allowing 434.8 yards per game.

Fant's praise for Nebraska shows how different both teams are approaching Friday's game from a public relations standpoint.

This is a critical game even with the Big Ten West Division already decided because Nebraska is clearly on the rise, while Iowa is trying to maintain a level of consistency under Ferentz.

Iowa could finish 9-4 or 7-6 with two games remaining, including a bowl game.

A victory over the Cornhuskers would provide a significant boost heading into the bowl preparation.

It would also be a reminder that talk is cheap, especially when the player doing the talking plays for a team with a 4-7 record.

Prediction: Iowa 37, Nebraska 22

 

Iowa vs. Nebraska

When: Friday, 11:05 a.m.

Where: Kinnick Stadium

TV: Fox

Series: Nebraska holds a 29-16-3 advantage, but Iowa has won three straight and four of the last five meetings.