Halftime Thoughts: Iowa 14, Nebraska 10

LINCOLN, Neb. — Well, this is kind of tense and weird, wouldn't you say?

A 4-yard pick-6, an unsportsmanlike penalty on Kirk Ferentz, a Nebraska defensive back (Nate Gerry) ejected, an Iowa linebacker kayoed by a hit from a teammate.

Nebraska got three points it probably didn't expect to get to end the half thanks to Good Tommy Armstrong hitting on consecutive passes to tight end Cethan Carter for 27 and 20 yards.

Bad Tommy Armstrong threw two interceptions, one that looms extra-large.

Iowa has four pick-6s this season

. If the Hawkeyes win today, none of those interceptions returned for touchdowns will be recalled as long or as lovingly by Hawkeye fans as the one defensive end Parker Hesse had when he swatted an Armstrong toss, caught the carom, and trotted four yards for a touchdown.

It was, to use a cliche, an athletic play.

What if Iowa cornerback Desmond King

hadn't done something (the story is he was late to a team meeting) to be held out of the first quarter by his coach?

Were King in the flow of the game early in the second quarter, would he have run up to a punt and fumbled it away, giving it to Nebraska at the Iowa 31?

Who knows? But the turnover set up a Husker touchdown.

King did break up a Husker pass in the end zone on the last Nebraska possession of the half, leading to a 39-yard field goal by Drew Brown. That was a pass Bad Tommy Armstrong really shouldn't have thrown, and he was lucky King didn't get his ninth interception of the season from it.

I didn't see Kirk Ferentz

throw his gum, if he did. But we all saw him throw his stocking cap in anger about something after something the officials did or didn't do after Nebraska had a 25-yard pass play that went to the Iowa 8.

Iowa got a sideline warning and a 4-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the play. It got the Nebraska crowd even more fired up after the big play. The enthusiasm was amped up a play later when Imani Cross ran for a touchdown, and the score was 7-7.

Speaking of the crowd, there was a higher Nebraska-to-Iowa ratio than I expected. And the Husker fans are into it, as the officiating crew can tell you. Judging from my Twitter feed, many a Big Red backer believes the Big Ten's refs here are giving their team the shaft.

Iowa did very well

to get out of the first quarter in a scoreless tie.

The Hawkeyes had the field-position edge through most f the quarter. When Nebraska got a bad Marshall Koehn rugby-style punt of 17 yards at the Iowa 47, Tommy Armstrong threw an interception to Iowa linebacker Cole Fisher on the next play.

The wind was in the Hawkeyes' faces, and they played the quarter without King.

You can go several college football games

without seeing a serious injury if you (and the players) are lucky, but then something comes along and your stomach does flips.

Iowa's Ben Niemann was hit in the aftermath of a tackle by the helmet of fellow Hawkeye linebacker Josey Jewell late in the first quarter, and it looked like you were seeing a boxer who had been tagged hard and left in a daze.

It was hard to watch, and illustrated yet again what football can be like. Here's hoping the effects of the injury are as minimal to Niemann as possible.

King's first-quarter suspension

didn't move the Las Vegas lines.

In fact, Iowa went from a 1.5-point pick to 2.5 Friday morning, and was briefly 3 at the Stratosphere. The line at kickoff was 2.5.

I've never stayed at the Stratosphere. If any of you have, I'd be curious to hear your accounts of the place.

Nebraska played the opening

of the Verve's 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' as it introduced its seniors before the game.

I thought that was a very nice touch, and it's pretty music to boot.

It's normal to have NFL scouts

at college games. The Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins have representatives here today.

But this was a new one for me: The Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders have a spot in the press box, under the name 'Edward Bilderback.'

Meanwhile, USA TODAY, Sports Illustrated (senior college football writer Andy Staples) and the Washington Post all got press credentials for this game.

I assure you none of those entities had people at Kinnick Stadium one Black Friday ago.

And also here were newspaper people from Beatrice, Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney, McCook, Nebraska City and North Platte.

I have spent two nights in North Platte, on drives from Cedar Rapids to Hot Sulphur Springs, Colo., and back. North Platte is a long way from everywhere.

The Gazette folk stayed in Omaha

Thursday night. Nearby our hotel was a strip mall with both an Orangetheory Fitness facility and an Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt shop.

Neither was open on Thanksgiving. I think I know which I would have patronized had I the opportunity.

It's cold here. Too cold for my taste, for the second-straight Iowa game. The enclosed Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis will look pretty good in eight days. Or feel

pretty good, at least.