Less at stake after clinching Big Ten West title, but Iowa football remains ‘all in’ on Nebraska game

IOWA CITY — On paper, Iowa football does not need to win Friday against Nebraska.

It already has the Big Ten West title locked up. Friday’s result also is unlikely to have much of a ripple effect in Iowa’s bowl forecast either.

But in practice, the Hawkeyes have a much different mindset than that as they approach their final regular-season game of 2023.

“We’re all in on this game,” wide receiver Nico Ragaini said.

The focused mindset follows head coach Kirk Ferentz’s decision to relax the team’s well-documented 24-hour rule for dwelling on (or celebrating) the previous game’s outcome until moving ahead to next week.

“First of all, they earned it,” Ferentz said about the Hawkeyes’ 15-13 win over Illinois to clinch the West. “Secondly, I figure they can handle it. … They were 100 percent on task Monday morning when we came in, so that’s really all you need.”

Offensive lineman Mason Richman said he and his teammates “really want to go out there and compete and win.”

“There’s no downside to winning another game,” Richman said.

Richman has fought through injuries throughout the season, but there was “not at all” any discussion of sitting out against Nebraska.

“We got 120 guys,” Richman said. “I’m guaranteeing at least 100 of them would play through the things that I got, and the guys in the past would do the same thing.”

Iowa has the opportunity to win its 10th regular-season game on Friday — a feat Ferentz has achieved in only four times in his previous 24 seasons as head coach.

“That’s a pretty big deal,” Ragaini said.

The other seasons when it happened were 2002, 2009, 2015 and 2021.

A win would help Ferentz’s future candidacy for the College Football Hall of Fame as well. His career winning percentage is .600, which is exactly the benchmark needed for eligibility.

A win against Nebraska and in the bowl game would be enough, even with a likely loss in Indianapolis, to keep his record above the .600 requirement.

Friday’s game also presents an opportunity to reclaim the traveling Heroes Trophy. The Hawkeyes suffered a 24-17 loss when their Big Ten rival to the west visited Kinnick Stadium last year. The loss kept Iowa out of the Big Ten championship game.

“It’s not really a revenge game per se because these are obviously two different teams compared to last season,” Richman said. “It’s just about going over there and competing.”

On the other sideline, Nebraska needs a win Friday to become bowl-eligible. The Huskers have not been bowl-eligible since 2016 (and have not won a bowl game since the 2015 Foster Farms Bowl).

The Huskers are a 2-point favorite as of Wednesday morning, according to ESPN.

“We know it's not going to come easy over in Lincoln,” Ferentz said.

Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium — a place Ferentz described as a “tough venue” — has been the site of many competitive Iowa-Nebraska games.

The games in 2015, 2019 and 2021 were all one-possession wins for the Hawkeyes. The exception was Iowa’s 56-14 rout of Nebraska in 2017.

“They're playing like a bowl team right now,” Ferentz said. “They're playing really well. … Sometimes we all lose sight about how tough it is and how many things have to go right for you to win.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com