Nebraska’s second-half collapse handed it its fifth loss of the season, officially ending the regular season 7-5 after a 6-2 start.
The Huskers gave up 379 total yards of offense and allowed six plays of 25+ yards.
Here are four players who stood out and a question to ask from the 40-16 loss.
Emmett Johnson
Mr. Do-it-all did it all. After being snubbed from being a Doak Walker Award finalist, the junior running back hasn’t slowed down. Johnson ran wild against the nation’s 14th-best run defense, going for 217 rushing yards on 29 carries.
His performance will be overlooked based on the outcome of the game, but Husker fans should realize that 239 yards of total offense from a running back is something the fanbase hasn’t seen in years.
Johnson got back up to his near 30-carry game with 29. Of those 29, he averaged 7.5 yards per run. His big moment came on the team’s second drive of the game when the running back ran 70 yards down to the Iowa one-yard line before punching in the touchdown by himself the very next play.
Early on, Johnson took advantage of Iowa’s secondary’s tackling issues. Eventually, he started to get shut down at the line of scrimmage, likely from fatigue.
With the possibility of Johnson playing his final game in a Husker uniform in the bowl game, Johnson’s junior season is one for the record books.
Johnson’s historic game marked the first 200+ yard rushing game by a Husker since Ameer Abdullah in 2014.
Kyle Cunanan
Many anticipated Cunanan to be the game’s MVP. After back-to-back seasons of 13-10 losses, a low-scoring field goal frenzy was expected. In the early stages of the game, that was the case. Cunanan accounted for 10 of the team’s first 16 points.
The cold conditions didn’t make kicks easy by any means, but the sophomore kicker had no issues nailing field goals of 35, 31 and 29 yards.
Of course, when the opponent puts up 40 points, the few field goals won’t mean anything. However, if the game came down to field goals, Cunanan was primed to make his kicks.
Cunanan officially ends the regular season going 43-for-43 on extra points and 16-for-19 on field goals.
Donovan Jones
Earlier in the week, defensive coordinator John Butler said that Jones was the most physical guy on the defense. He proved that on Friday with his good performance in the midst of the defensive struggles.
On the first drive on defense, Jones broke up a third-and-6 pass that would have resulted in a first down. The freshman cornerback ended the game with the most tackles on the team with nine (seven solo) and a pass breakup.
Nebraska found a gem with Jones. With senior defensive back Malcolm Hartzog Jr. going down at the beginning of the year, Jones stood his youthful ground against some top-tier Big Ten receivers.
TJ Lateef
In his third game as the starter, Lateef didn’t live up to expectations against the Huskers’ biggest rival. However, a hamstring injury in the early half of the game likely caused hesitance in his throws and decisions.
Many expected him to run the ball on his own after showing a lot of promise in the games against UCLA and Penn State. However, one rush for two yards proved otherwise.
Lateef’s final passing stat line came out to be 69 yards on nine completions on a 38 percent clip. While the completion percentage is concerning, many of his throws were well-placed that receivers weren’t able to haul in.
With one more game left in his true freshman campaign, Lateef will look to lead Nebraska to its eighth win of the season.
After two straight embarrassing losses, what is Nebraska’s outlook for its bowl game?
Well, not promising by any means. The bowl opponent will determine the expectations.
As of now, Nebraska is projected to play a Pac-12 school in the Las Vegas Bowl or an SEC team in the Music City Bowl.
Utah and Arizona State are the two teams from the Pac-12 that experts see the Huskers playing. Both teams showcase dual-threat quarterbacks, which Nebraska has struggled to contain all season. Missouri and LSU are the two teams that the Huskers could meet in Nashville at the Music City Bowl. Both teams have top-level talent that could pose significant problems to the Huskers.