By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – If Friday’s 13-10 victory over Nebraska proves to be Kaleb Johnson’s final game as an Iowa running back, the Ohio native certainly will have gone out in spectacular fashion.

Johnson’s brilliant 72-yard touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter helped to put Iowa in a position to win a game that it really had no business winning given how poorly the offense had performed to that point.

His touchdown followed by Drew Stevens’ point-after kick evened the score at 10.

And then after Nebraska fumbled in its own territory late in the fourth quarter, Stevens would go on to make a 53-yard field goal as time expired to give Iowa the three-point win on a bone-chilling night at Kinnick Stadium.

It was redemption for Stevens, who was benched in last year’s Nebraska game, which Iowa also won 13-10 on a late field goal by former backup kicker Marshall Meeder.

When Friday’s game ended, the Iowa players rushed the field and chased after Stevens as he ran towards the north end zone.

“It sucks when somebody else is out there doing your job,” Stevens said of last year’s Nebraska game. “I mean, honestly, that does suck, especially when you train all year around doing it.

“So, yeah, this one felt really good. I was confident to go out there and do it.”

Iowa improved to 8-4 overall and has now won nine of the last 10 games against Nebraska, which fell to 6-6 under second-year head coach Matt Rhule.

And while Stevens will forever be remembered for making the game-winning field goal, Iowa wouldn’t have been in position to win in the closing seconds without Johnson’s miraculous touchdown.

“You can’t explain that play,” said Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. “It was just a phenomenal effort.”

Iowa won despite only gaining 164 yards, despite making just five first downs and despite finishing 0-for-10 on third-down plays.

Iowa won because its veteran defense stayed the course, and because Stevens rose to the occasion, and because Iowa had Kaleb Johnson, while Nebraska didn’t.

Nebraska’s team captains also refused to shake hands with the Iowa captains prior to the coin toss, and that just added fuel to an already raging fire of emotion.

“I took it personally and put my shoulder down and just kept going,” Johnson said of his touchdown catch. “I told myself the team needed me in that moment, and I wasn’t going to let my seniors down.

“So, I just said I had to make a play for the team, and I had to put the team on my back.”

Johnson entered Friday’s game as the Big Ten’s leading rusher with 1,492 yards, and there is speculation that the 6-foot, 225-pound junior will skip whatever bowl game Iowa plays in so he can start preparing for the 2025 NFL Draft.

Johnson was asked about his status after Friday’s win.

“I don’t even know my decision yet,” Johnson said. “Probably play in the bowl game, but I don’t know yet.”

Iowa is likely headed to the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Florida where it will face a team from Southeastern Conference on New Year’s Eve.

The come-from-behind win on Friday was Kirk Ferentz’s 204^th win as a Big Ten head coach.

He needs one more win to tie Ohio State coaching legend Woody Hayes for first place.

“I know statistics are important, but sometimes you just have to find a way to win, and our team did that,” Kirk Ferentz said. “Down ten to nothing and our guys really dug in and made plays when it mattered.”

The Iowa offense was dysfunctional and looked helpless throughout the first half, gaining just 20 yards, including 12 yards on the ground.

Hawkeye fans voiced their dissatisfaction in the offense by booing as both teams headed off the field at halftime.

The third quarter was more of the same for the Iowa offense.

The boo birds returned in the third quarter when Kirk Ferentz settled for a field goal on fourth down at the Nebraska 2.

Stevens made the field goal from 20 yards to trim the deficit to 10-3 with 4 minutes, 30 seconds left in the third quarter.

However, it still felt like a blown opportunity since Iowa had recovered a fumbled punt at the Cornhusker 4, but then gained just two yards on three plays before kicking the field goal.

But then on the first play of the fourth quarter, Johnson finally gave Hawkeye fans something to cheer about on his 72-yard touchdown in which he caught a short pass from Stratton in the backfield and then plowed through several defenders before eluding another one with a nifty move near the Iowa sideline and then sprinting to the end zone.

It was Johnson 23^rd touchdown this season, and while many have been spectacular, this might have been the most spectacular due partly to the circumstances.

Great players have a knack for rising to the occasion, and for making plays that most others can’t make.

There were multiple times on Johnson’s touchdown catch in which he was close to being tackled, but he just refused to go down.

His touchdown added 72 passing yards to Jackson Stratton’s total, but the catch near the line of scrimmage was probably the easiest part of the play for Johnson.

Johnson was mostly held in check on the ground as he only gained 45 yards on 17 carries.

But as star players so often do, he found another way to break loose, and it couldn’t have happened at a better time.

Johnson’s touchdown put more pressure on Nebraska’s offense to strike back, but the Iowa defense refused to let that happen.

Nebraska freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola lost a fumble in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, and that helped to set up Stevens’s game-winning field.

Iowa honored its seniors just prior to kickoff, but sixth-year quarterback Cade McNamara did not participate in the ceremony.

There is speculation McNamara chose not to participate because he plans to enter the transfer portal after the regular season and appeal for a seventh year of eligibility.

Whatever is the case, Cade McNamara has almost certainly played his last game as a Hawkeye, and to say that his two-year stint with Iowa was a disappointment would be an understatement.

“He just declined a chance to come out and that’s strictly up to him” Kirk Ferentz said of McNamara. “It was his desire, so we honored that.”

Kirk Ferentz said junior Brendan Sullivan, who started at quarterback against Wisconsin and UCLA this season, could have been available in an emergency situation in Friday’s game.

Fortunately, for Kirk Ferentz, he didn’t have to switch quarterbacks since Stratton made it through Friday’s game unscathed.

Graduate cornerback Jermari Harris participated in the Senior Day ceremony, but he wasn’t in uniform and ne missed his second straight game due to what Iowa has called a medical issue.

Friday’s win was also the last game at Kinnick Stadium for Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins and for safety Sebastian Castro.

They both went out in style as they finished with 12 and 11 tackles, respectively.

 

Nebraska 3 7 0 0 – 10

Iowa 0 0 3 10 – 13

N – John Hohl 31 FG

N – Dante Dowell 1 run (Hohl kick)

I – Drew Stevens 20 FG

I – Kaleb Johnson 72 pass from Jackson Stratton (Stevens kick)

I – Stevens 53 FG