Fun Facts: Nebraska-Iowa, the Johnson & Johnson game, minus the pharmaceuticals

Black Friday, dark sky. That’s the backdrop for Friday’s Nebraska-Iowa nighttime football game, which sounds like it needs some Fun Facts.

1. The last six games in the series were decided by one score.

2. Iowa’s last three losses to Nebraska were in Iowa City.

3. Last Saturday, running backs Kaleb Johnson of Iowa and Emmitt Johnson of Nebraska combined for 368 total yards.

4. Kaleb Johnson has scored a touchdown in every game this season — the only player in Iowa history to reach the end zone in a season’s first 11 games.

5. Jim Lachey’s streak of 357 consecutive games in the Ohio State broadcast booth will end Saturday because he’ll be in Iowa City Friday for the final home game of his son, Iowa tight end Luke Lachey. The late start time Friday made it unfeasible for Lachey to get to Columbus for Saturday’s noon kickoff of Michigan-Ohio State.

6. Every Power Four conference team had been bowl-eligible at least once since 2017 except Nebraska until last Saturday when it beat Wisconsin to improve to 6-5.

7. Iowa has played in two Citrus Bowls, a Pinstripe, an Outback, a Holiday and a Music City in that time, and would have played in the 2020 Music City had Missouri not withdrawn.

8. “This will be the last time we celebrate six wins,” said Nebraska Coach Matt Rhule. Husker fans stormed the field after Win No. 6 last Saturday in Lincoln.

9. Former Iowa quarterback Paul Burmeister, who played in the 1993 Alamo Bowl, is doing the play-by-play for NBC’s telecast of this game. Former Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who played against Iowa in the 2006 Alamo Bowl, will do the color commentary.

10. This is the first season in which Iowa has had three different starting quarterbacks since 2016.

11. Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola was the only first-year freshman quarterback to start for a Power 4 conference team in Week 1.

12. Iowa’s Jay Higgins leads the nation in interceptions by a linebacker, with four.

13. This was the first year the Huskers didn’t allow a rushing touchdown at home since 1939. Visitors did score 12 passing touchdowns.

14. Last year, the closing over/under number on the Iowa-Nebraska game was 25.5 points, the lowest number of any college game this century. The Hawkeyes won, 13-10. This year’s number opened at 39.

15. The “over” has paid off in nine of Iowa’s 11 games, more than for any other team in the nation.

16. Iowa has scored 67.5 percent (218 of 323) of its points after halftime.

17. The Hawkeyes’ 29-13 win at Maryland last Saturday was the first 29-13 score in Iowa’s 1,319-game football history. The Huskers’ 44-25 win over Wisconsin last Saturday was the first 44-25 score in Nebraska’s 1,392-game football history.

18. Cows outnumber people in Nebraska by 3 to 1. Pigs outnumber people in Iowa by 7 to 1.

19. Nebraska is the only state in the U.S. that is triple landlocked. That means you have to travel through at least three other states to reach an ocean, gulf or bay.

20. This is the Heroes Game. David Bowie sang his song “Heroes” on “Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas Special” on CBS in 1977.