Nebraska Football’s Identity Crisis on Full Display vs. Iowa

by T.J. Birkel

The Nebraska football team got trounced by Iowa on Black Friday, losing 40-16 in a completely embarrassing and unacceptable performance. The Huskers were only down by eight coming out of halftime, but they completely unraveled in the 2nd half in a scene that was all too familiar to any fan who has been paying attention for the last decade. The Big Red was doomed by poor play calling/game management, poor execution, and special teams mistakes. We cover it all in the topline takeaways. 

CHEERS TO THAT

Emmett. Johnson. This game was so bad that I contemplated putting the “CHEERS TO THAT” section last, because there was almost nothing to like about what we saw on Friday. But that would not have been fair to Emmett. 

Every time it seems like EJ couldn’t possibly do more to carry this team, he outdoes himself. On Friday, he was at it again, with arguably his best game of the season. He rushed for 217 yards on 29 carries, a whopping 7.5 yards per carry. Even if you take out his impressive 70 yard run in the first quarter, he still averaged 5.25 yards per carry. He also scored Nebraska’s only touchdown. 

I’ve mentioned this before, but I would love to believe there is a world where #21 might consider coming back to Nebraska for his senior season. Now that the regular season is over, perhaps we’ll get clarity on that sooner rather than later. In reality, he’s likely a 1st team All Big Ten running back, and he should be an All American. He will absolutely be drafted if he decides to go that route. Can Nebraska convince him…

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