Iowa football notes: Shaun Prater on team's top rival; surging sophomore linebackers

IOWA CITY - For Iowa linebacker Tyler Nielsen, it's a little early to call the Iowa-Nebraska series a rivalry.

“You don't want to talk about it too much because we haven't even played a game in it,” he said. “But it's exciting.”

Nebraska has become Iowa's fourth trophy game, with the teams playing for the inaugural Heroes Trophy on Friday. The Big Ten shoehorned Iowa and Nebraska into the Legends Division and scheduled the teams for the regular-season finale.

Omaha native and Iowa starting cornerback Shaun Prater is excited for the chance to play the home-state Huskers. But he also is reluctant to call Nebraska a rival.

“When people think rivalries, the first that comes up is Iowa State,” Prater said. “You can get into these guys (Nebraska) as well. We'll have to wait until time plays out to see who is the biggest rivalry.”

Iowa also plays for trophies with Iowa State (Cy-Hawk), Minnesota (Floyd of Rosedale) and Wisconsin (Heartland). Each rivalry has a unique component for Iowa. The Cyclones are the in-state school. Minnesota is the Hawkeyes' most-played rival at 105 games and the teams share a 77-year-old trophy. Iowa and Wisconsin are tied 42-42-2 after 86 games and the campuses are within three hours' drive.

Wisconsin rotated off Iowa's annual schedule for only the third time in 75 years after the schools were placed in opposite divisions.

“We traded one team from the east that wears red uniforms that is really good and picked up one from the west that is really good and wears red uniforms,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “There will be a lot of red in there. There was up in Wisconsin.”

After winning eight straight trophy games from the end of 2007 through October 2010, Iowa now has lost four straight.

“We obviously haven't done well in our trophy games lately, which is kind of disappointing,” Nielsen said. “So hopefully we can start fresh here and have a chance to win the game.”

Backers in Black

As a senior, Nielsen is the veteran of the linebacking corps, which boasts four underclassmen in the position two-deeps. Nielsen touted the group's overall speed and said he's excited about how that unit has progressed this year.

“I try to teach them as much as I can,” Nielsen said. “They're talented. They know football, too. They're teaching me things. It's good to have a young group like that, and they're going to be good in the future.”

Sophomore outside linebacker Christian Kirksey leads the team in tackles with 93. Sophomore weakside linebacker James Morris - who traded spots with Nielsen midway through the season - has 92 tackles. Sophomore Anthony Hitchens is behind Morris and has 22 stops, while true freshman Quinton Alston has played in six games since losing his red-shirt.

Nielsen also is high on red-shirt freshman A.J. Derby, who moved from quarterback to linebacker last month.

“He's done a good job,” Nielsen said. “It's quite the move from quarterback to linebacker. He's got a lot to learn, but he's a great athlete and he's going to be a good player - there's no doubt about it. He's got size and athleticism to do it. Once he picks up on some things, he'll be all right.”

Red assist

Iowa needs to give an assist to Nebraska for keeping Shaun Prater around one more year.

Prater struggled last winter with a decision to either enter the NFL draft or stay at Iowa for his senior year. Then when Nebraska joined the Big Ten and the league set up a season-ending Iowa-Nebraska clash in Lincoln, Prater tilted toward staying.

“I was thinking about leaving at the time so that definitely played a major factor in me coming back,” Prater said. “When I saw that the new schedule came out, I was like, ‘Yeah, I have to come back. This is picture-perfect.

“As soon as that schedule came out I got about 30-40 phone calls from family members saying, ‘Hey, you've got to come back.'”

Those same family members and friends also have hit Prater up for between 25 and 30 game tickets.

“Everyone is coming out of nowhere, writing me on Facebook ...,” Prater said.

Proud family

Iowa center James Ferentz watched his older brother, Brian, coach on Monday Night Football when his New England Patriots played host to the Kansas City Chiefs. Brian Ferentz coaches the Patriots' tight ends, and ESPN's announcing crew gave him a shout-out because of the play of Patriots' young tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Gronkowski had four catches for 96 yards and two touchdowns Monday.

“I don't know how much coaching he does with Gronkowksi,” James Ferentz said. “That's guy one of a kind.

“I did (hear the shout-out). I think we all were proud of Brian, and I'm sure he was proud of himself, too. But those guys he has, he's been dealt a good hand.”