Game Report: Nebraska 37, Iowa 34 (OT)

TROPHY HUNTING

By themselves, trophies are trinkets. But more important, they are symbols of victory. Iowa plays in four trophy games annually, including one of the most historic in Floyd of Rosedale (Minnesota).

Entering this season, Iowa possessed three trophies - Floyd of Rosedale, the Cy-Hawk (Iowa State) and Heroes Trophy (Nebraska). After Friday's 37-34 overtime loss to Nebraska, Iowa now has zero trophies.

'We take a lot of pride in those trophy games,” Iowa safety John Lowdermilk said. 'We know what they represent and to us they represent toughness, discipline, effort, execution, doing the right thing and they mean a lot to us. It sucks that we don't have them anymore.”

Trophies mean bragging rights over an opponent. Whether it's your oldest rival (Minnesota), a new border foe (Nebraska), a historical equal (Wisconsin) or the team whose fans you see every day (Iowa State), claiming trophies matters to the people who fill the stadium, donate to the cause and buy the products. Losing all four trophy games, including three at home, means Iowa's fans have little to brag about with their buddies, co-workers, neighbors and family members.

How much fun is football when you can't brag about your team?

BY THE NUMBERS

4 - Trophy games for which Iowa competes

0 - Trophy wins this year, three of which took place at Kinnick Stadium

17 - Point lead for Iowa with 17 minutes remaining

15:12 - Time of possession edge for Iowa

29 - Advantage in plays for Iowa

4 - Turnovers for Iowa, two more than Nebraska

REPORT CARD

F - At some point, this has to be deemed unacceptable. This is that time.

- Marc Morehouse

C-minus - That being-thankful glow from Thursday probably wore off altogether around here by Friday afternoon, huh?

- Mike Hlas

F - Midlevel teams like Iowa get one moral victory a year. That happened last week. This is an immortal loss.

- Scott Dochterman

GAME BALL

Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini. With a mountain of scrutiny about his job status and his team trailing 24-7 on the road, Pelini's squad rallied to beat their border rival. Teams that quit fold when trailing by three scores late in the third quarter. His team believed and battled. Even when Iowa scored a touchdown with 1:49 left in the game to take a 31-28 lead, Pelini's squad fought back to tie the game in regulation and then win it in overtime.

'I've been around a long time and I've coached a lot of years, but I don't know if I have ever been more proud of a group of guys than the guys in the locker room,” Pelini said. 'We had a lot of guys down, we had a lot of things going against us, but this team showed a lot of fight and character and that's all you can ask for as a coach.”

RUDOCK ON DAVIS

Iowa quarterback Jake Rudock and offensive coordinator Greg Davis are two of the most scrutinized public figures in the state. Davis, in particular, generates heat because of his play calling and passing system. That's not unique in college football to Iowa.

Rudock, who completed 19 of 38 passes for 230 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, defended his offensive coordinator after the game.

'I thought he did a good job,” Rudock told The Gazette. 'I thought he did a real good job of mixing things up and having us understand what he's trying to do. There's so much time that goes into the off-season that you guys don't realize of understanding what the calls mean, why he's calling it, what he's thinking because we kind of have to be him on the field and understand what's going on. I have all the respect in the world for Coach Davis.”

SENIOR DAY

Sixteen Iowa seniors walked off the field at Kinnick Stadium for the final time Friday in bitter fashion. Making the overtime loss more difficult was the lack of another game on the horizon.

'It will probably take a while (to get over it) especially because it was the last one here,” Lowdermilk said. 'When you're younger you don't think it will ever end but once you get here, it's wow just flew by. I love playing here. I love playing at Kinnick Stadium. It's an awesome place to play. We've got awesome fans. It just sucks that we didn't have the year we should have had.”

BOWLED OVER

Even with the loss, Iowa became bowl eligible for the 13th time in the last 14 years. Iowa sits at best sixth in the Big Ten pecking order, and the Hawkeyes' postseason location is out of their hands.

Potential bowl destinations include: Foster Farms Bowl (San Francisco), Taxslayer Bowl (Jacksonville, Fla.), Music City Bowl (Nashville, Tenn.) or the Quick Lane Bowl (Detroit).

STRONG ABDULLAH

Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah still struggles with a sprained knee from earlier this month, but he rushed for 106 yards on 13 carries. Half of his yards - 53 - came on a physical run in the third quarter that led to a blocked field goal.

Abdullah, a Doak Walker Award finalist, finished the regular season with 1,523 rushing yards.

'He's a really good running back and he's probably the classiest player that I've ever played against,” Lowdermilk said. 'He's got a lot of class. He's just a really good guy and a great running back, and he's very strong and quick.”

CANZERI TOUCHDOWN

Iowa running back Jordan Canzeri put the Hawkeyes ahead with 1:49 left in the game on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Rudock. Canzeri was uncovered on a swing route in the right flat, hauled in Rudock's low pass at the 5 and coasted in for the score.

'(Rudock) has a lot of things to worry about and see and look at, D-line in his face and things like that,” Canzeri said. 'He made a good throw. I caught it and there's nothing much to really say after that. We got the touchdown we wanted. I just wish we could have done a little more earlier in the game.”

QUOTABLE

'No, definitely not. It doesn't represent what you aspire to be when you're at the University of Iowa. We aspire to win championships, that's what we do every year and to go 7-5 is a little disappointing, definitely. But it was it is.” - Iowa running back Mark Weisman on his team's record this year

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com