Stat Pak: 7-5 and that’s that

THE BULLET POINT FROM THE NEBRASKA RESULT

No one was in the mood to talk about the merits of San Francisco or Nashville or San Diego or whatever middle-tier Big Ten bowl the Hawkeyes are headed to.

The Hawkeyes' tone on bowl talk was one more chance to show what they can do.

'We're facing adversity right now, we've had two tough losses back-to-back,” senior defensive tackle Carl Davis said. 'We still came out and fought hard. I still love my team and I'm getting ready for this bowl game.”

Iowa's season ended with thud on Friday. After overcoming four first-half turnovers, the Hawkeyes built a 24-7 lead that evaporated on a pair of big punt returns from wide receiver De'Mornay Pierson-El and clutch plays from sophomore quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. in Nebraska's 37-34 come-from-behind victory in overtime at Kinnick Stadium.

The Hawkeyes finished the season 7-5 (4-4 Big Ten). They lost their final two games at Kinnick Stadium against Wisconsin and Nebraska by a total of five points. They didn't break, but they didn't win, either.

'That wasn't the way you wanted to go out,” offensive tackle Brandon Scherff said. 'They came out in the second half and played a better half than we did. I think it's more us, focusing on our details and knowing where we're going.”

Where Iowa is going is next on the agenda. It could be a California bowl. Probably the top end bowl site for the Hawkeyes is the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. A more realistic destination might be the Foster Farms Bowl in San Francisco. The Music City Bowl (Nashville) and Pinstripe Bowl (New York City) also are possibilities. The Taxslayer Bowl (formerly the Gator in Jacksonville, Fla.) also could be a possibility.

It all will be decided Dec. 7, when the bowls will submit a 1-2-3 ranking of their preferences. Schools will in turn rank their preferred destinations. And then the Big Ten will make the match, based on creating desirable matchups (no rematches) and other parameters.

Iowa has a month of sitting on a definitively disappointing result from Black Friday. The Heroes Trophy was on the line, the last rivalry trophy the Hawkeyes held. After Armstrong hit wide receiver Kenny Bell for a 9-yard TD to best the field goal that Iowa put up during its overtime turn, the Huskers streamed to the south end zone end zone, where the trophy was placed.

Iowa ended the season 0-for-4 in trophy games.

'It stinks,” running back Mark Weisman said. 'As senior it stinks to have that.”

The 7-5 mark started setting in. It's not what they wanted, it just wasn't on the agenda.

'We are 7-5, we got what we earned,” said Weisman, who 24 times for 82 yard against the Huskers. 'We earned 7-5 this year. We didn't execute the way we needed to. We were up and down all year. It was kind of the way today's game went, too.

'It's a tough way to go out. It's not how you wanted to end your career in Kinnick.”

After Iowa went up 24-7 on a punt that went off a Nebraska player and was covered and returned by defensive end Drew Ott for a 12-yard TD with 8:45 left in the third quarter, Iowa's offense was clamped down by the Huskers. During that span, Iowa had five drives that generated just 47 yards, including a pair of three-and-outs.

Iowa playcalling was fairly aggressive, but the execution was absent. Near the end of the third quarter, quarterback Jake Rudock overthrew wide receiver Damond Powell for what would've been a 78-yard TD. Defensive tackle Vincent Valentine beat guard Austin Blythe and ran around center Tommy Gaul and ended up on Rudock's face, but the play was there to be made. Powell crumpled the coverage.

'We wasted a few possessions,” said wide receiver Kevonte Martin-Manley, who needs two receptions to tie Derrell Johnson-Koulianos' school record of 173. 'You have to stay aggressive. They have good playmakers at the other end and they did just that at the end of the game.”

After the Huskers scored on a 32-yard pass from Armstrong to Bell to pull within 24-21 with 13:24 left in the game, Iowa missed another opportunity in the passing game. Martin-Manley broke wide open in the middle of the field on a post pattern. The window closed before Rudock reacted and he threw incomplete on a flat route to fullback John Kenny.

The Kinnick Stadium crowd groaned. The play that stuck with Rudock was the interception on Iowa's first drive, when Iowa had a third-and-goal from the 7 and he forced it to tight end Jake Duzey only to be picked off by safety Nate Gerry.

'I wish I didn't throw a pick in the red zone,” Rudock said when asked if there were any plays he regretted. 'The kid made a good play. I should've felt him a little bit. I didn't see him.”

One more chance to do something. All bowls are trophy games, so there's that, too.

THREE STARS

1. Nebraska QB Tommy Armstrong Jr.

- Great second half by the sophomore. After two interceptions in the first half, Armstrong hit 9 of 20 for 153 yards and three TDs in the second half. Iowa's front four put pressure on, specifically in the middle of the defense where defensive tackle Carl Davis went to work (he won up front before the No. 3 center entered the game, too, stellar day, made money), but Armstrong was great after plays broke down. He bought time and his receivers worked to get open (see the game-winner).

2. Nebraska safety Nate Gerry

- Yes, he missed a tackle and gave up a 37-yard TD pass to WR Tevaun Smith, but he did pick off a pass in the Huskers' end zone, made 15 tackles and had 2.5 tackles for loss. That was a full, full day. It kind of represented the Huskers' effort. Yes, there were mistakes, but there also was a 60-minute effort.

3. Iowa DT Carl Davis and Nebraska RB Ameer Abdullah

- Davis was great in his home finale, picking up two tackles for loss, a sack, three QB hurries and a blocked field goal that really might've mattered if the defense could've made one more stop.

Abdullah's senior season was on a heavy Heisman track before he suffered a knee injury against Purdue on Nov. 1. He was a huge positive for Nebraska on Friday, rushing for 106 yards on just 13 carries. Abdullah will get squeezed out of some postseason honors because of the injury, but he's one of the best ever in Lincoln.

THE OT

Iowa's possession

- Iowa worked it to first-and-goal from the 9. On first down, Rudock dropped a fade to TE Ray Hamilton, who had the ball glance off his fingertips. It was close. Hamilton had a defender on him. Rudock's pass was right there. It was Iowa's best chance for a TD. Second down was an outside zone into the short side of the field to Weisman. Tight end Jake Duzey missed a block on UNL linebacker Zaire Anderson and the play went for 2 yards. ABC analyst Matt Millen said he didn't like Weisman to the outside and wanted him more with his shoulders square when running the ball, 'That's not his game.” But that was the call, and we've written that before here and that isn't a Weisman thing. He's doing what he's asked to do.

Third-and-goal from the 7: First, beautiful spin move by Huskers' reserve DE Jack Gangwish, splitting OT Brandon Scherff and guard Austin Blythe and flushing Rudock out of the pocket. Second, there's no question that Anderson held Duzey. This happened in front of head linesman Bruce Keeling and side judge John Hayes. Anderson clearly water-skied on Duzey, but Millen, 'Does he have a little bit of hold to him? Yeah, just a tad down low. Let me tell you all you young defenders out there, if you're going to grab, grab down low by the waist, that generally doesn't get called.”

He's right, all around he's right.

Nebraska's possession

- Third-and-5 from the 21: With Iowa DE Nate Meier closing, Armstrong found Bell for a 12-yard gain to the 9. Middle linebacker Quinton Alston blitzed and Bell just settled in the middle of Iowa's zone defense, in front of FS Jordan Lomax and corner Desmond King. First-and-goal from the 9: Play-action rollout by Armstrong. Bell shook Mabin and settled in front of him. Bell caught the ball and broke the plane of the end zone before he bobbled the ball after the hit by Mabin.

'I did see the replay, and it's probably a discussion, but it doesn't really matter at this point,” Ferentz said.

Also, correct. Two very different first-and-goals from the 9.

TWO PLAYS

1. Third-and-goal from the 5

- Iowa was in a 12 personnel and needed a TD trailing 28-24. (BTW, Iowa couldn't run the clock down because it did trail.) Iowa stacked the right side of the line of scrimmage with TEs Hamilton and Duzey. They ran pseudo pick routes. Sort of kind of picks, but they played it well. No one covered RB Jordan Canzeri who was wide open for an easy TD and a 31-28 lead.

Great call and Iowa led with 1:49 left.

2. First-and-10 at Iowa's 47

- The PI on Mabin, also a tough one for Iowa to swallow. Call could've gone either way. It went the way it went and you play on. Anyway, Mabin gave wide receiver Brandon Reilly an 8-yard cushion in zone coverage. Reilly had one career catch before this 35-yarder that gave the Huskers a first down at Iowa's 12 and eventually led to the game-tying field goal.

Reilly ran off Mabin, who overran the play and fell. Armstrong put up a Frisbee-catching dog ball, one that was easily ID'd for Reilly and that he could comeback to. Reilly made a play that a well-coached player makes. He turned and saw the ball, while Mabin slid off and Lomax was late with help. Mabin didn't turn his hips well and stumbled. Iowa's defense did recover and hold the Huskers to the field goal.

The Huskers got something out of their Brandon Reilly. That kind of thing really matters in a game that was so closely contested.

THE NUMBERS GAME

Touchdowns in the red zone

Iowa

- 1 of 4

Nebraska

- 1 of 4

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI - 4 of 6 (off), 3 of 3 (def); Week 2 vs. BSU - 2 of 6 (off), 1 of 2 (def); Week 3 vs. ISU - 2 of 2 (off), 1 of 2 (def); Week 4 vs. Pitt - 3 of 3 (off), 2 of 4 (def); Week 5 at Purdue - 2 of 5 (off), 0-1 (def); Week 6 vs. Indiana - 3 of 4 (off), 1 of 2 (def); Week 7 at Maryland - 4 of 5 (off), 2 of 3 (def); week 8 vs. Northwestern - 4 of 5 (off), 1 of 2 (def); week 9 at Minnesota - 1 of 1 (off), 6 of 7 (def); week 10 at Illinois - 4 of 6 (off), 0 of 0 (def); week 11 vs. Wisconsin - 3 of 4 (off), 1 of 2 (def)

The takeaway

: Iowa was sixth in the Big Ten in this number. Last year it was 51.8 percent in TD percentage in the red zone. Those numbers kind of caught up to the Hawkeyes. Stellar job from the defense, which will finish at least third in the league in TD percentage in the red zone.

3 and outs (forced by defense)

Iowa

- 6

Nebraska

- 4

Tracking the Hawkeyes:

Week 1 vs. UNI - 3 (off), 3 (def); Week 2 vs. BSU - 5 (def), 3 (off); Week 3 vs. ISU - 2 (def), 3 (off); Week 4 vs. Pitt - 0 (off) 2 (def); Week 5 at Purdue - 7 (def), 6 (off); Week 6 vs. Indiana - 8 (def), 6 (off); Week 7 at Maryland - 8 (def), 10 (off); Week 8 vs. Northwestern - 5 (def), 0 (off); week 9 at Minnesota - 2 (def), 6 (off); week 10 at Illinois - 5 (def), 2 (off); week 11 vs. Wisconsin - 1 (def), 2 (off)

The takeaway:

Iowa forced just two in the second half. On offense, Nebraska forced Iowa to punt five straight possessions from the third through the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Second half adjustments

Iowa

- 194 yards, 4.04 yards per play (48 plays)

Nebraska

- 271 yards, 7.13 yards per play (38 plays)

Tracking the Hawkeyes:

Week 1 vs. UNI - 190 yards, 5.93 yards per play (32 offensive plays), 199 yards, 5.68 yards per play (35 plays on defense); Week 2 vs. BSU - 247 yards, 5.61 yards per play (44 plays on offense), 128 yards, 3.55 yards per play (30 plays on defense); Week 3 vs. ISU - 102 yards, 3.64 yards per play (28 plays on offense), 190 yards, 5.27 yards per play (36 plays on defense); Week 4 vs. Pitt - 183 yards, 5.90 yards per play (31 plays on offense), 173 yards, 5.40 yards per play (32 plays on defense); Week 5 at Purdue - 284 yards, 5.65 yards per play (50 plays on offense), 56 yards, 1.86 yards per play (30 plays on defense); Week 6 vs. Indiana - 126 yards, 3.6 yards per play (35 plays on offense), 185 yards, 5.78 yards per play (32 plays on defense); Week 7 at Maryland - 263 yards, 4.78 yards per play (55 plays on offense), 172 yards, 4.77 yards per play (36 plays on defense); Week 8 vs. Northwestern - 185 yards, 5.78 yards per play (32 plays off), 125 yards, 3.47 yards per play (36 plays def); week 10 at Minnesota - 90 yards, 3.75 yards per play (24 plays offense), 176 yards, 4.75 yards per play (37 plays defense); week 10 at Illinois - 293 yards, 7.3 yards per play (40 plays offense); 127 yards, 4.5 yards per play (28 plays defense); 271 yards, 9.67 yards per play (28 plays offense), 236 yards, 7.86 yards per play (30 plays defense)

The takeaway

: Impressive second half from Nebraska's offense. Coordinator Tim Beck got Armstrong's attention and kept him grounded. Beck, Armstrong and a game WR corps punished Iowa's aggressiveness in the second half. Iowa's offense just got stuck. Playcalling remained aggressive, but the missed plays in the passing game turned into punts.

20-plus plays

Iowa

- 3

Nebraska

- 6

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI - 3 (off), 7 (allowed); Week 2 vs. BSU - 1 (off), 1 (def); Week 3 vs. ISU - 1 (off), 3 (def); Week 4 vs. Pitt - 2 (off), 7 (def); Week 5 at Purdue 4 (off), 1 (def); Week 6 vs Indiana - 4 (off), 5 (def); Week 7 at Maryland - 4 (off), 5 (def); Week 8 vs. Northwestern - 7 (off), 1 (def); week 10 at Minnesota - 4 (off), 4 (def); week 11 at Illinois - 9 (off), 2 (def); week 11 vs. Wisconsin - 9 (off), 5 (def)

The takeaway:

I'm counting Iowa's hook-and-lateral at the end of the game. It went for 28 yards. OT Scherff was credited with a 15-yard run. So, I guess that counts. Bad stat for Iowa's offense: Four turnovers and just three plays of 20-plus (25 pass to KMM, 37-yard pass to Smith, which also converted a third-and-5, and the hook play. The Huskers had four pass plays of 30-plus. That's a great stat and probably one that comes with a hugely high winning percentage.

The Iowa/Greg Davis definition of explosive (it's 12-plus runs and 16-plus passes): 8 (Indiana 4, Purdue 13, UNI 6, BSU 6, ISU 1, Pitt 4, Maryland 10, Northwestern 13, Minnesota 6, Illinois 16, Wisconsin 11)

Magic points (scores inside of two minutes)

Iowa

- 7

Nebraska

- 10

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI - 3 (off), 0 (allowed); Week 2 vs. BSU - 7 (off), 0 (allowed) Week 3 vs. ISU - 0 (off), 3 (allowed); Week 4 vs. Pitt - 0 (off), 3 (def); Week 5 at Purdue - 3 (off), 0 (def); Week 6 vs. Indiana - 7 (off), 0 (def); Week 7 at Maryland - 3 (off), 0 (def); Week 8 vs. Northwestern - 7 (off), 0 (def); week 9 at Minnesota - 7 (off), 7 (def); week 10 at Illinois - 0 (off), 0 (def); week 11 vs. Wisconsin - 0 (off), 8 (def)

The takeaway:

Iowa came up with a hugely clutch drive to take the lead on Rudock-to-Canzeri for 5 yards with 1:49 left. But the defense didn't finish. The Huskers completed magic points at the end of the first half (Armstrong-to-Abdullah for a 5-yard TD with 20 seconds left to pull UNL within 10-7 at halftime) and end of the game (Drew Brown's 20-yard FG tied it 31-31 with 8 seconds left. This was the defense not being able to close the deal.

Short yardage (converted second-5 and third-5)

Iowa

- 11 of 15

Nebraska

- 1 of 8

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI - 9 of 15 (off), 5 of 10 (def); Week 2 vs. BSU - 9 of 13 (off), 5 of 7 (def); Week 3 vs. ISU: 14 of 19 (off), 10 of 14 (def); Week 4 vs. Pitt - 10 of 17 (off), 8 of 15 (def); Week 5 at Purdue - 8 of 18 (off), 7 of 18 (def); Week 6 vs. Indiana - 3 of 14 (off), 3 of 9 (def); Week 7 at Maryland - 10 of 17 (off), 8 of 10 (def); Week 8 vs. Northwestern - 7 of 12 (off), 9 of 11 (def); week 9 at Minnesota - 6 of 11 (off), 13 of 21 (def); week 10 at Illinois - 12 of 22 (off), 6 of 9 (def); week 11 vs. Wisconsin - 5 of 7 (off), 5 of 10 (def)

The takeaway:

This stat might have some meaning, but the Huskers opened up the offense and didn't see many short-yardages in the second half. Iowa had a second-and-goal from the 4 punched out after a false start.

Disruption numbers (number of TFLs/sacks, QB hurries, passes defended and turnovers divided by total number of opponent plays)

Iowa

- 5.0 TFL/sacks (2 sacks), 2 PBU, 2 INT, 5 QBH, 1 blocked FG = 15 divided into 59 = 25.4 percent

Nebraska

- 10 TFL/sacks (4.0 sacks), 3 FF, 3 FR, 3 QBH, 2 PBU, 1 INT = 22 divided into 88 = 25.0 percent

Tracking the Hawkeyes:

Week 1 vs. UNI - 14.2 percent (off), 29 percent (def); Week 2 vs. BSU - 18 percent (def), 18 percent (vs. off); Week 3 vs. ISU - 17 percent (def), 22 percent (vs. off); Week 4 vs. Pitt - 16.7 percent (def), 11.3 percent (vs. off); Week 5 at Purdue - 19.1 percent (def), 15.9 percent (off); Week 6 vs. Indiana - 23.3 percent (def), 14.4 percent (off); Week 7 at Maryland - 20.2 percent (def), 28.7 percent (off); Week 8 vs. Northwestern - 31.3 percent (def), 14.0 percent (off); week 9 at Minnesota - 4.1 percent (def), 51.7 percent (off); week 10 at Illinois - 19.6 percent (def), 10.1 percent (off); week 11 vs. Wisconsin - 16.1 percent (def), 10.1 percent (off)

The takeaway:

Iowa almost overcame four turnovers and a whole lot of disruption. Ten tackles for loss is a lot against in a game. Iowa allowed 17 sacks in its five losses, including four to ISU, Maryland and Nebraska.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com