Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - RIVALRY? Is Hawkeyes’ Lincoln Win Streak Set to Continue or Will Nebraska FINALLY Break Through?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Crossing over ahead of Black Friday. Is Nebraska in for more heartbreak against Iowa? That's next. You are Locked on Nebraska, your daily Nebraska Corn Huskers podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello, and thanks for making Locked on Nebraska and Locked on Hawkeyes, your first listen every day. We are free and available wherever you get podcasts in on YouTube, part of the Locked on podcast network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day in

Starting point is 00:00:39 today's episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use the code Locked on College for $20 off your first purchase. All right, welcome in. Mitch, good to see you again. It's been a while. It has been a while. Good to see you. Mitch Sherman from the athletic. Trent Condon is with me. Trent, you want to take it away and we'll get going on this crossover episode. Yeah, absolutely. You know, of course, both of us been covering our respective teams for a lot of times and we've seen this rivalry kind of morph into what it is today.

Starting point is 00:01:13 So we're going to break down, obviously, the game. We're going to take a look at the matchup. Heartbreak, I know you use that terminology from the Nebraska side, the jubilation from the Hawkeye side that we've seen in so many close games. And certainly on the surface, I think, feels like one of those games also coming up here. Iowa's long winning streak in Lincoln. So we got a lot of different layers that we want to get into today. But what I like to do a lot of times in these crossover episodes that we do is just get that overview.

Starting point is 00:01:39 This is a little different because it's a rivalry game. I know a lot of my brethren in Western Iowa, they keep very close tabs on you guys over there in Nebraska. And we do as a whole. Iowa has so many rivals, it is a little bit different. So we have a pretty good idea. But Iowa comes in seven and four. Nebraska comes in seven and four. we have some disappointment, certainly on this side.

Starting point is 00:02:01 Is disappointment, that be the right term that would use? Yeah, you're bowl eligible. Maybe you're taking a step forward. Is this season currently looked at as a disappointment or a step forward for Nebraska football? Well, when you, Trent, when you look at the games that Nebraska's lost in the way that Nebraska's lost them and fresh in the minds of Nebraska fans is that 37 to 10 loss at Penn State, the losses are tremendously disappointing. I think Nebraska feels like this is a missed opportunity, what's happened here. The schedule did not, the schedule set up well for Nebraska to have eight or nine wins at this point. And there's debate about whether this is an eight or nine win team.

Starting point is 00:02:41 But if Nebraska had played Iowa schedule and had played Oregon in Indiana, you know, it might be a different story. But Nebraska got Michigan at the perfect time without its head coach, freshman quarterback first start on the road. Nebraska got USC at a nice time when the, The Trojans were by no means a juggernaut and were there for the taking Nebraska probably wins that game. If Dylan Ryola doesn't get hurt in the middle of the third quarter, Huskers had a comfortable lead at that point and we're driving. And the Minnesota game was a debacle, the Penn State game, although Nebraska was definitely outclassed in terms of talent as Penn State found itself. That game was a debacle. So, yeah, it's disappointing at this point, but Friday has the opportunity.

Starting point is 00:03:27 to turn the tables for Nebraska because if Nebraska, and I would say beating Iowa is punching up for Nebraska, that's the problem this year with Nebraska. It's won the games where it's been able to punch down. It has not won the games where it was punching up. Those three that I mentioned and Minnesota, it just fits into a different category of its own in just being a mess. So this would be a win for Nebraska if it can pull this off in a game where it has to punch up against Iowa. And I think that would, that would in some ways fix the season because it's been a disappointment, but it hasn't been a disappointment on the level where it can't still be corrected. Yeah. And you get to Florida, you get to a nice bowl game. And in the Outback Bowl,

Starting point is 00:04:13 I think that's a likely. We'll talk about that and some of the scenarios in front of us here a little bit later on, Mitch. I want to go to the quarterback spot. You mentioned the injury in that USC game to Rayola. Then you have his little brother decommitting last week. Latif looks so good in that first start against UCLA, not so much last week against Penn State. Take us in because it's not just about an injury to a quarterback. There are so many layers here with the family connections with their roolas. There's so much there. So fill in some of the Hawkeye fans a little bit deeper because this, the story,

Starting point is 00:04:43 everything that kind of surrounds it, it's so intriguing, coupled with a true freshman that's looked really good at times at the quarterback spot. Yeah, it is intriguing and it's hard to know looking in from the outside on this. So the Raiolas aren't talking about this. Dylan Raiola suffered a broken leg on November 1st in the USC game. He's had surgery. He's back in Lincoln with the team, didn't travel to UCLA, was right after the surgery, didn't travel to Penn State.

Starting point is 00:05:10 He'll be there on Fridays, by all accounts, been supportive of T.J. Latif. The expectation at this moment is that Dylan Riala comes back for a third year as the starting quarterback next season. and Lateef can be his understudy again. Now we know how things work in college football. It's very difficult to retain two quarterbacks starting experience at any program. And that will be a challenge for Nebraska to address in December or January. But in the midst of this, Dylan's brother Dayton, who's two years younger, a senior at Buford High in Georgia, one of the best high school teams in the country,

Starting point is 00:05:48 committed to Nebraska since September of 2024, opts to decommit. This comes right around the time that Dylan gets hurt and T.J. Lateef, the true freshman, who's just one year older than Dayton Ryola, stars in the UCLA game, leads Nebraska to victory on the road in its first career start. And it should be mentioned that there's a 27 quarterback for Nebraska who's been committed for several months now and has loomed so large for Nebraska in the building process, the building of momentum, peer recruiting. Trey Taylor, I'm talking about, who's a borderline five-star kid out of Chicago, and he's at all the home games, and so has Dayton been until now, of course.

Starting point is 00:06:34 But Trey Taylor had really a year younger, stolen a lot of the thunder, I think, from Dayton, Riola and his profile within the Nebraska quarterback hierarchy, despite being two years out almost from ever having the chance to play in a game. It got to the point where between Latif and Taylor, it was hard to see Dayton Riola's spot in the future. So not a shock from that perspective that he took a step back and said, I'm going to go seek some different options here, see what's there for me and decommit from Nebraska. but it does make you wonder about what the ramifications are within the family,

Starting point is 00:07:18 within the Ryola family, and how this might affect Dylan. Now, I don't think that Dayton's decommitment is going to cause Dylan Ryola to leave, but if there's more that's happening beneath the surface and if there's any kind of disharmony between the Ryolas and Nebraska, then that could also factor in whatever the short-term future is, the long-term future is, for Dylan. And, you know, it's probably something we won't find out too much about for another few weeks. Drama on that front. We had some drama in this game a year ago.

Starting point is 00:07:51 Now we're going to flip the script. We had the not handshake, handshake before overtime. We had dance around at the 50-yard line. We had a whole bunch of things that went into it. This feels like we are really turning it into a rivalry. But when some team has won on the opponent's home field in every game since 2011, People say on now the other side of the river, maybe this isn't a rivalry yet.

Starting point is 00:08:13 Nebraska's got to get one at least at home. You're going to flip the script here, Mitch. Gets and ask me some questions. We'll do that as we continue. It's a crossover edition, locked on Nebraska and locked on Hawkeyes. The NBA is back and there's no better place to get in on the action that Fanduel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA.

Starting point is 00:08:36 Even if you miss the start of the game or you want to ride the hot hand, Fanduel has live bets on everything who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks, but not just NBA. They got you covered. College basketball, obviously it's Feast Week. They got you covered on that front. Maybe you're taking a look at the Black Friday matchup with Iowa, Nebraska. Iowa currently up to a six-point favorite in that game over under.

Starting point is 00:08:57 You can hit it all on the Fandul app and take a peek at everything happening with your team. Right now, Van Duel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. That's right, $300 in four new customers and bonus bets with your first $5 bet if it wins. Head to Fandual.com to sign up and play your game with Fandual, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, welcome back. Thanks for making Lockdown, Nebraska. Oh, here we go. I will, I'll take it out of the break here.

Starting point is 00:09:33 Thanks for making Lockdown, Nebraska and Lockdown, Hawkeyes, your first listen to the day. and thanks for making locked on the number one sports podcast network. I'm Mitch Sherman here with Trent Condon. And as we discussed at the end of the last segment, I am going to take the opportunity to ask you about what's going on with the Iowa Hawkeyes. So, all right, what does Iowa have in store for Nebraska this time, Trent? This is my question. This is a long-winded question.

Starting point is 00:10:02 And I want to set this up by reviewing just a bit what has happened when the Hawkeyes have visited Memorial Stadium in the last few years. So give me your thoughts on that. And then perhaps what is going to happen this time? So two years ago, 13 to 10, we remember Marshall Meeter, the backup kicker who hadn't been on the field in a year. This is after Chubba Purdy, the Nebraska backup QB inexplicably throws a pick with 15 seconds to play. Nebraska's denied bull eligibility as meter hits a 38-yard field goal. Two years before that, Iowa scores 19 points in the fourth quarter to win 2821. Two years before that, It was Keith Duncan with the 48-yard field goal as time expired.

Starting point is 00:10:42 After Nebraska came back twice from 14 points down in that game, Huskers are denied bowl eligibility. Iowa waves says Merry Christmas to Nebraska as the Hawks leave the field. You have 2015 when Nebraska was denied bowl eligibility. 2017, 2013, those were blowout Iowa wins. So what do we forecast Iowa having up its sleeve in this game against Nebraska based on the kind of team that Kirk Berench is bringing to Lincoln. More of the same, more than anything.

Starting point is 00:11:13 I don't think you're going to see a whole lot different. You know, the hope coming into this season is we were going to see more growth out of the passing game, the addition of Mark Grinowski coming in from South Dakota State, multi-time national champion at the FCF's level, and a guy that put up big numbers. What we've seen from him, I think he's turned out to be an even better runner than anybody anticipated, but the passing, there's definitely still some holes. He started the first game of the year against Albany.

Starting point is 00:11:38 They tried to throw it. They couldn't. He got too ramped up. That was something that was kind of odd, had struggles against Iowa State. Then even a week ago against Michigan State, it's senior day. For whatever reason, Mark Grinowski is just a guy that he gets too amped up. He gets too accelerated and you see that in the passing. Another component to Grinowski at the quarterback spot and probably why we haven't seen maybe the growth in the passing game is he had that knee injury against Indiana.

Starting point is 00:12:01 And if he doesn't injure his knee, there's out of doubt in my mind that they beat the Hoos. Hoosiers that day, but that aside, since then, there's been many times where just mechanically you see him kind of short-armed things. He leaves balls out in front or even short of his receivers, and it's because I think of that knee injury, he just doesn't step into the throw of the same ability, doesn't have maybe that same kind of pocket presence that we saw at different points in the time. So Gradoski is a passer. He's kind of like Iowa quarterbacks have been in last five, six years. Not real apt to go down the field. I'm going to do it, but what he is is a tremendous And that adds another component to this Iowa team. His running ability, he's rushed for a touchdown at what, 14 rushing touchdowns. I think the number of this season off the top of my head. He is tremendous and he is a big physical runner, not just a speed guy on the outside, but he can also do it with his wheels faster than you think. So that's kind of the only difference, a dynamic runner for the Iowa quarterback compared to what you normally see. Tight ends have been banged up. We've had a redshirt freshman that has emerged. You're used to see in Iowa tight ends.

Starting point is 00:13:05 offensive line has been really good, but really banged up. They ended the USC game down to just two of their starting offensive alignment. Three were hurt in the course of that one. So they're banged up. Everybody's banged up here. But yeah, if you're looking, well, what's different about Iowa? Not much. It's Iowa football under Kirk Farrants. Of course, no Caleb Johnson on this team. He hurt Nebraska badly a year ago with the one big play. And that's all it took and that 13 to 10 win in Iowa City. How dangerous is Kamari Moten, Iowa's running back here as a compliment, or maybe Gernowski is the compliment. There are a one-two punch, clearly, in running the football.

Starting point is 00:13:42 I would say Kamari Moulton, he came into the year. Now, these were some offshore odds that were out there, but he was the second betting choice to lead the Big Ten in rushing this year. Last year, average over five and a half yards per carry in a backup role to Caleb Johnson. He had a bunch of big runs also in that role, and that hasn't been the case this year. He got banged up earlier this season. I had to leave and sat out, I think, two different games came back even earlier.

Starting point is 00:14:04 I think the people thought with his shoulder. shoulder injury against Rutgers and played well. He gets you the yards that are there, but there just hasn't been a whole lot more. Last year, he had three runs of over 20 yards, just one so far this season. So he's going to make the makeables, but he hasn't been a difference maker this season. I think a lot of people thought he was going to be. He's fine. He's a good solid B, but maybe a B minus at the quarterback spot.

Starting point is 00:14:28 Again, it goes back to Gordowski. That is the guy. I think that is kind of the dynamic part of this running game this season. Got some backups too. Jazzy and Patterson, he'll come in and run hard. He might run under the back of one of his offensive liven. There's not a whole lot of wiggle to him. He just powers it straightforward.

Starting point is 00:14:43 He's going to get you forward seemingly every single time, but maybe not much more than that. So overall, with as good as this Iowa offensive line has been this year, I would say at least as it concerns the running backs. Running backs have been a little bit of a disappointment this year. Yeah, I think it's interesting the way that that works, and that's probably more of a concern for Nebraska than if it had been, the opposite. Huskers have had troubles this year with running quarterbacks. And, you know,

Starting point is 00:15:10 it's not a shock. Running quarterbacks give defenses that are suspect against the run, a lot of problems. But up until last week at Penn State with the dual-headed running backs, it had been Brandon Sorsby from Cincinnati, Bryce Underwood, from Michigan, Jaden Mayava, from USC, who really provided the, the daggers. and I say dagger, that there was no dagger for Cincinnati. Nebraska was able to get the interception in the end zone and the season opener to win that game. But he was given the Nebraska defense all kinds of fits throughout. This one, tell me if you agree, it sets up as a day, and we can maybe talk some about the playing conditions that are expected in this game in the third segment here today.

Starting point is 00:15:56 But whether it's going to be 40 degrees in sunny, which it's not, or 30 degrees in windy and possibly snowing, we know what Iowa wants to do offensively in this game, not just against Nebraska, but maybe even more so against Nebraska because of the problems that Nebraska has had defending the run. I was going to come in and run the ball. Is there anything that the Hawks will even do to disguise that? Or do they just say, hey, we're going to line up and do what we do. You try to stop us. I don't anticipate a whole lot of that. I think you're going to see Nebraska probably able throughout the course of this game, have eight guys in the box and they're going to play bully ball.

Starting point is 00:16:36 And I think they are, this is the blueprint. This has been the game plan for the better part now of 15 years that they want to play against Nebraska and it's worked out incredibly well. They want to go out there. They want to be the more physical team. And for the most part, Nebraska hasn't been able to answer. There might be more recruiting talent. There might be more blue chip talent.

Starting point is 00:16:55 But year in and year out, I was able to win it at times when Nebraska has more talent. Well, just ugly it up. Give yourself a chance and then make a goofy play. a block punt, whatever's happened in the past, have a guy that hadn't made a field goal or kicked a point ever for Iowa in his career, come in there and barely get one over the crossbar from 38 years. It just, that's what Iowa does, but some of the frustration from the Iowa perspective, they do that against everybody.

Starting point is 00:17:20 It's not just about kind of tighten that gap. It's also letting Michigan State last week hang around and get a 10-point lead against you, a team that hadn't won a game in the conference. It happens too many times against teams that are on the other side of the ledger than a program like Nebraska. So that's where the frustration comes in. But, yeah, I think the game plan is going to be very similar. The wide receivers, for the most part, have been pretty pedestrian this year.

Starting point is 00:17:42 Haven't seen a whole lot in the deep passing game. I mentioned the young tight end. DJ Bonamy, Mitch, I want to get you, have you get your eye. He's a Western Iowa kid. He's from Carol Kemper over there in the western half of the state. He's just a redshirt freshman. He came as a walk on. I don't want to put the, this is the next Sam Laporta.

Starting point is 00:18:01 This is the next George Kittle. This is the next, and we can play this game for. a long time. But there is something special about him. Still's got a long ways to go, I think, as it pertains to as a blocker to become kind of that full-time guy. But he's got some wiggle to him. He's got some size. He's got the athleticism. They look for now six, four, six, five. He can move. And he might be the one. And he's been coming on here these last couple weeks. So if you're looking for somebody maybe to slide up the seam and actually get something big in the passing game, I wouldn't look at the wide receivers. I'd probably look at Bonamy. Yeah, he could be the next

Starting point is 00:18:30 Noah fan. That could be dangerous words. We'll get out of this segment on this, and then we'll talk about some of that rivalry conversation and the weather and predictions when we come back. But where is Iowa most improved throughout the season? Because I watched the Hawks at the beginning of the year, and it was a struggle to get a first down at times against competition that was quite a bit below what Iowa has faced and competed against very well.

Starting point is 00:19:00 not won the games. We all know about the four losses against ranked teams by 15 points. So I always had a hard time getting over the top against teams that are better than Nebraska. But where have you seen this team improve the most in this seven-win season? I think more than anything, and it's kind of a surprise, I'm sure, for people that have been watching every week, is defensively. This team defensively in the first month of the year really was struggling. They started flip the switch in October. And really it started in the second half of the game against Rutgers. It was on a Friday night.

Starting point is 00:19:33 They looked brutal in that first half on the defensive side. Missed assignments, blown coverage all over the place, missed tackles. And since then, they have really improved in that area. One thing, and we talked about differences, I was talking more offensively, this is different, much different than any Iowa team under Phil Parker, their fine defensive coordinator, is they're blitzing a whole lot more than they ever have. And a typical year under Phil Parker, they're usually between 15 and 18 percent in terms of blitz rate. That's almost double this season.

Starting point is 00:20:01 And it's come because I think a myriad of reasons, defensive line hasn't been able to get home nearly as much. But the other part is their defensive backs for whatever reason are really good. Xavier Wampa, he times it up so incredibly well coming in, either off the edge or even coming up the middle of what are their safeties. John, you got a couple of different guys that, I don't know why. I don't know if it's just these guys click a little bit better because Parker's brought pressure in the past. They're blitzing a whole lot more.

Starting point is 00:20:26 These guys are actually good at it. So I think you'll see plenty of. that. Their linebacker in the middle, Carson Shire, he's another guy that'll probably be bringing pressure a whole lot. They bring more pressure than ever before. So that's a difference in the improvement has certainly come. When they started doing that, go back and watch the Indiana game. This defense has looked a whole lot different and it's continued throughout the course of the year. All right. We'll come back with a forecast for Friday. That's next. All right now, a word from game time. It is rivalry week in college football.

Starting point is 00:20:59 and we could not be more excited, the tailgates, the rivalries. As I mentioned, the energy in the stands, there's nothing like what's going on this week around the country, around the Big Ten, but actually getting tickets to get into the stadium can sometimes feel like more of a battle than the game itself. You have to deal with endless cues, hidden fees, prices that jump at checkout. That's why when I go to a game, whether it's a football game, a basketball game, it could be a concert, any kind of an event. I use Game Time.

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Starting point is 00:21:51 Use the code locked on college for $20 off your first purchase. Term supply. Again, that's promo code. L-O-C-E-D-O-N-C-O-L-E-E-E-E-E-E-E for $20 off. Swipe, tap, Ticket, Go, download game time today. Back with you one final time on this crossover edition, Locked on Hawkeyes and Locked on Nebraska. I'm Trent Cotton, he is Mitch Sherman.

Starting point is 00:22:20 All right, let's get into it. What we expect to see, Black Friday. All right, got to start with the weather, and you brought that up. not been, I probably should be going to be in Sioux City visiting family up there. So I probably should be looking at the weather conditions, but I haven't dove too deep into it. So fill us in what you saw over there, what we're going to see across the border for us as you look at the forecast 11 a.m. kickoff over in Lincoln at Memorial Stadium.

Starting point is 00:22:45 Yeah, let me put on my meteorologist cap here and open up the app that will help me with that. So Friday is calling for a high of 37 in Lincoln, a low of 32. So it's going to be in the 30. at 11 a.m. And then a 75% chance of snow, sleet, or rain with wind gusts up to 30 miles an hour. So this is Big 10 football in November. I remember the game, of course, it was only a year ago at Kinnick Stadium. And per the norm, I spent some time down on the playing surface during warmups. You know, to get a feel for things.

Starting point is 00:23:29 You want to get up close with the players and coaches, see, see, you know, get a sense of the vibe. After about 90 seconds on the field last year, I went back upstairs. That was enough. And if that forecast holds true, although it will be warmer, like air temperature-wise on Friday in Lincoln, I think the playing conditions and just like the overall miserability, miserable factor is, is going to be higher this this week than it was a year ago. And I was played in a couple of rain games already this year. The downpour throughout against Oregon and then the road trip out to USC,

Starting point is 00:24:09 get to go out to L.A. and what do you get hit with? More weather. So I was played in that a couple of different times. The wind conditions, I think, are interesting too. And one thing that we didn't get into, Mitch, is Kurt Ferris brought this up right away when he started in his press conference earlier this week to preview the matchup is he talked a lot about those special special teams. Special teams had been an issue and has been an issue in this game a lot in the

Starting point is 00:24:32 past. It feels like they've really short things up there, both in the kicking punty department, but also what you've seen in the return game. Definitely in the return and coverage area. The place kicking has been a little bit inconsistent with the transfer Kyle Kuhnan, and he was good at the start of the year. And as you get into, as you get into the cold weather in the Big Ten, it hasn't been as consistent. Archie Wilson is Nebraska's true freshman punter. the Huskers are trying to find the next Tori Taylor from down under. Wilson actually is from the same lineage as Taylor. And it's not that he modeled his game after Tori,

Starting point is 00:25:10 but they would, Nebraska would love to have identified that guy. He's actually more a product of the Mike Echler School of Special Teams. So Mike Echler, former Nebraska assistant Kansas State player, from the Omaha area, he was at Tennessee for the last several years, and he brought in Jackson Ross as an Aussie punter of just about every team in the in the SEC has an Aussie punter. So Nebraska has one of these guys. And Archie has been good. It's been a big change for Nebraska with what it's used to in the punting area. But in terms of returns, kickoff returns, punt returns, and all of the coverage areas, it's been a big, big upgrade for Nebraska this year.

Starting point is 00:25:54 In fact, the Penn State return on, Ben State had one decent punt return last Saturday night as just about everything went wrong for Nebraska. And that was the first one for really any kind of positive yardage against the Nebraska coverage team all season. Their yards allowed were under five yards on the season before Penn State got loose for about a 20-yard return. So that will be a huge objective for Nebraska on Friday is to keep the ball away. from Caden Weechin in a game like this where possessions are going to be minimized,

Starting point is 00:26:29 I would say points are going to be at a premium because of the weather and the style of offense that both these teams want to play. The team that gets something going in special teams, you make one or two plays in special teams and it very well may win the game. I think it's going to be a big factor. I think it's going to come into the end. So as we look at this game, 39 and a half, by the way, the over under in this game by Fanduel and I think I really, really like the under and have what after you mentioned those weather

Starting point is 00:26:58 conditions. Iowa favored, it's up to six and a half too. And that's a huge surprise to me. It just, it feels like a field goal game. It feels like it's going to come down to the end. It's going to be a kick one way or the other. It's going to be three. It seems like too many in this spot.

Starting point is 00:27:16 There's so many that goes into this. And I just don't see Iowa being dynamic enough, you know, offensively to open things up. the weather condition, everything that goes into it, do you see it another way? Or do you think it's going to come down to the end? And if you have to make your official prediction, what do you got? If the over under, what do you say? It was 39 and a half? If it was 29 and a half, I would still say under, Trent.

Starting point is 00:27:40 So when you have a number, when you have a number that's that low, I, six and a half is, it's huge. That's almost a blowout if you win by six and a half, seven points in a game where the points are going to be, are going to be at that much of a premium. Yeah, I absolutely see it as a field goal game. If you were to gauge these teams based on their strengths and their weaknesses and line them up, put them into a computer formula, I understand where it comes out with Iowa being a full touchdown better. I think Iowa is a touchdown better than Nebraska. But you put this game at Memorial Stadium in these conditions on Black Friday, knowing the kind of emotions that are going to be swirling. And I do want to ask you about this before we end the show to ask you about those emotions

Starting point is 00:28:33 and how it might carry over from last year. But we'll get a little bit out of order here, and I'll give you my prediction. I'm going to say for the third year in a row, 1310, Iowa, just because that would rub the salt into the wounds of Nebraska's, of Nebraska's fans and players even more. And I feel like that's just what is destined to happen in this series until Nebraska proves that it's a program that can turn things the other way. And I haven't seen that in 11 games this year.

Starting point is 00:29:02 Well, here's a good note for Nebraska fans. Iowa had a winning streak in Ames dating back to 2011 and ended this year. I don't think this one ends though this year. I think Iowa does it out of walk up again. But this one, I'm going to throw a little kid. caveat in here. I would down by two. 16-14. Miss field goal, not overtime that you can hope for. No, you lose the game. And Drew Stevens walks it off. Another kiss to the crowd as he makes his way off the field in his parting shot. 17-16. I got the Hawkeyes win it on a walk-off.

Starting point is 00:29:33 All right. Are you projecting his safety in there to get Iowa to 16? I was, yeah, it three, you got three field goals. Is it a safety in there, two-point conversion? It's Iowa football. You know there's going to be something weird. Okay. Before we wrap this thing up, Before we say goodbye, you mentioned in the first segment about how, and this is valid, with Nebraska having not won in this game at home in Lincoln since 2011. Now, the Huskers did win in 2022 in Iowa City, but nine of the last 10 have gone Iowa's direction. You mentioned that, well, there's some sentiment on the Iowa part that if this is going to be a rivalry, then Nebraska has to do what Nebraska has to hold up its end of the deal.

Starting point is 00:30:14 Now, just about all of these games have come down to three points or seven points. So they are competitive. Like, there's no question that the games are highly contested. But in talking to Nebraska players and Nebraska coordinators on Tuesday in Lincoln, I got a real mixed vibe. So early in the days of the Big Ten and even into the last maybe until the last two or three years, there's always been like the majority of the conversation from the Nebraska side has been, yeah we don't really see it that way it's just another game it's not really a you know a rivalry there's

Starting point is 00:30:50 just not enough history there we have a lot of respect for iowa the fans don't maybe don't like each other or maybe they do like each other because they live next to each other and you know neighborhoods in omaha or des moines or wherever that might be but the but the you know the the vast majority of players and coaches at nebraska always kind of towed the line and like refuse to go over it and say that it meant more. That's not what I hear coming out of out of Lincoln this week. There's a few. There's a few holdovers. Henry Lutovsky, the Iowa native who grew up a Notre Dame fan. He's never going to, he's never going to admit to that, even if he feels the disdain for Iowa. For him, it's just another game. But like Dana Hogerson, Iowa native, he said, no, this one means more. He goes, you can feel it around

Starting point is 00:31:34 here this week. It means more. And he had just arrived at Nebraska last year when the Husters went into Kinnick Stadium and, you know, we don't need to rehash, but the situation at the 50-yard line before the game, the handshake, the handshake before the coin toss, Jay Higgins and Matt Ruhl after the game. Like, I think that Nebraska, there's more of, there's more emotion. There's more like digging in their heels and saying, yeah, all right, we'll admit it.

Starting point is 00:32:02 We don't like them coming out of Nebraska camp this week. what in any way has that or is that shifting in either direction for Iowa? You know, it is interesting because Kirk Farrant's is very even keel. You know, not too high, not too low. That's how this program has been built the last 27 years. But there's always extra juice for certain matchups. And Kirk, with his age, you know, what Nebraska was for him, a growing up, what it morphed into, obviously, in the 90s.

Starting point is 00:32:32 This one means something, I think, to Kirk Farrant. Penn State means something. He's a Pennsylvania native. He wanted to go to Penn State. He wasn't good enough to play a Penn State. So that game means something for him. There are certain matchups and rivalry games, they are important. Though Iowa has four trophy games they play for every year,

Starting point is 00:32:47 and they're all important in their own realm, this one I think carries even a little bit more weight. Some of the things have been said about the Iowa program. Kirk Fares doesn't forget anything. He remembers everything. And when you got a loudmouth athletic director, you know, taking shots of your program, he's not going to forget. He relishes, I think, this game.

Starting point is 00:33:06 each and every year. No, and he won't forget, though, because he brings up still on Tuesday, he brought up a guy, I think, from 1982. He doesn't forget. I love it. I love it when he does that. It's every press conference. It is absolutely every single time.

Starting point is 00:33:21 You know, you're going to get some kind of reference to back in the day. That's who he is, and he's not going to forget. So it's always been a part of that one. But is this game bigger inside the buildings over there at Fort Kinnick than the Minnesota game, than the Wisconsin game, these last. few years. I think so. I think there's a little bit something there. And I think it's a realm, a part of it is that Iowa has felt disrespected by Nebraska. Even though they've dominated this series now for the better part of 15 years, they still feel disrespected. And Kirk, he likes that role.

Starting point is 00:33:52 He'll have his team ready to go. It won't be because of lack of effort. It won't be because they're not ready. Nebraska go out there and beat them. That can happen. But it's not going to be because of that. Yeah, I think this is one, Kirk every single year, he's got the Huskers circle. all right that will get us out of here Trent it was great to visit with you today can't wait until Friday to see how this thing plays out if it comes down to a field goal or one point as you're projecting thanks for listening and watching today please subscribe

Starting point is 00:34:21 and follow locked on Nebraska and locked on hawkeyes Connor and I will be back on Thursday with our weekly mailbag thanksgiving edition Trent will have you covered on his locked on hawkeyes feed and thanks for making us your first listen today For your second listen, check out Locked-on Big Ten. Craig is there to break down the most exciting conference in college sports, from the rivalries to the championships and everything in between. Find Locked-on Big Ten wherever you listen to podcast,

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