5 players to watch in Iowa football’s season finale at Nebraska

IOWA CITY — Welcome to rivalry week.

As part of tradition, Iowa football (7-4, 5-3 Big Ten) is heading to Lincoln to close out the regular season at Nebraska. The Hawkeyes have hit their stride against the Cornhuskers in recent games, including back-to-back wins over Nebraska and winning nine of the last 10 matchups.

Last year’s 13-10 win in Kinnick Stadium secured Iowa’s eighth win of the year, and the Hawkeyes have a chance to repeat a similar ending again.

Nebraska (7-4, 4-4 Big Ten) has done well in Memorial Stadium this year, boasting a 4-2 record with wins over Northwestern and Michigan State, but hasn’t faced a program in the top half of the conference standings since inviting USC on Nov. 1.

Here’s a look at five Nebraska players to look for during the Black Friday battle for the Pioneers Heroes Trophy.

QB TJ Lateef

After Nebraska’s starting quarterback Dylan Riaola’s season-ending injury earlier this season, freshman TJ Lateef has taken over signal calling duties. He’ll make his third career start against Iowa on Friday.

Lateef led Nebraska to his first career win as a starting QB on Nov. 8, but had made three other appearances prior to his start. He’s thrown a 70.4-percent completion rate, 50-for-71, with four passing touchdowns and no interceptions. His longest throw has been at least 30 yards in all but one game this season.

Lateef’s also scored three rushing touchdowns this year, averaging 19.2 rushing yards per game for a season total of 96 yards on the ground.

The California-native was a four-star recruit by On3 and was the nation’s 11th-best pro-style quarterback in high school, according to Rivals.

RB Emmett Johnson

Junior running back Emmett Johnson leads the Big Ten in rushing yards this season, accumulating 1,234 with just one fumble and 11 touchdowns.

Johnson is averaging 112.2 rushing yards per game, and he’s recorded two 50-plus-yard bursts twice against Big Ten opponents — one of which against Penn State last week.

Iowa held the junior to 71 rushing yards last season, where he averaged 8.5 yards per carry.

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WR Nyziah Hunter

Transferring from California last season, sophomore wide receiver has started in every game this season and leads the Cornhuskers in receiving yards (611) and receiving touchdowns (5).

He averages 3.8 catches per game, with his season-low coming against Penn State last week — catching one pass for a 19-yard gain. Hunter has just one 100-plus-yard game this season: at Maryland Oct. 11, where he also recorded his lone two-score outing.

Hunter hasn’t found the end zone since Nebraska hosted Northwestern on Oct. 25, but is still averaging 14.5 yards per catch.

DB DeShon Singleton

With the second-most tackles on the Nebraska defense, senior defensive back DeShon Singleton has recorded back-to-back games with double-digit tackles leading into rivalry week.

Singleton has made at least four tackles in every Big Ten game this season, and is the only player with multiple interceptions. He has a team-high four pass breakups and recorded a season-high two tackles-for-loss againt Penn State.

Against the Hawkeyes last year, Singleton recorded five tackles.

LB Javin Wright

As the Cornhuskers’ leading tackler, senior linebacker Javin Wright has jumped into the starting role this year and only missed one game due to injury.

He’s recorded 74 tackles in 10 games (nine starts), and is tied for the team-high 7.5 tackles-for-loss with teammate Vincent Shavers Jr. Sixty-seven of his tackles this year have come in Big Ten play, including a season-high 12 tackles against Maryland and Minnesota in October.

Wright hasn’t recorded a forced fumble or recovery this year, but did secure his first pick of the season against Northwestern on Oct. 25. He recorded two tackles against Iowa last season.

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