Iowa–Nebraska football rivalry

Iowa–Nebraska football rivalry
Iowa Hawkeyes
Nebraska Cornhuskers
SportFootball
First meetingNovember 26, 1891
Iowa, 20–0
Latest meetingNovember 29, 2024
Iowa, 13–10
Next meetingNovember 28, 2025
Lincoln, NE
TrophyHeroes Trophy
Statistics
Meetings total55
All-time seriesNebraska leads, 30–22–3 (.573)[1]
Trophy seriesIowa leads, 10–4
Largest victoryNebraska, 57–0 (1980)
Longest win streakNebraska, 8 (1931–1941)
Current win streakIowa, 2 (2023–present)
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Locations of Iowa and Nebraska

The Iowa–Nebraska football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Iowa Hawkeyes and Nebraska Cornhuskers.[2][3][4] The game is held annually on Black Friday.

History

Non-conference series

Iowa and Nebraska first met on November 26, 1891 in Omaha, Iowa's first-ever game outside its home state. Nebraska credits Iowa assistant Theron Lyman, who was sent to Lincoln days early to prepare an inexperienced NU team to face the more experienced Hawkeyes, as its head coach for the game, though he likely did not attend Iowa's 22–0 win.[5] The following year, the schools became founding members of the short-lived Western Interstate University Football Association, one of college football's first conferences.[6] The WIUFA dissolved in 1897, but Iowa and Nebraska continued to play regularly until after World War II.

The proximity of the two teams played an important role in the early days of the game, with exclusive trains running between Iowa City and Lincoln to allow fans to travel.[7] The series was paused for decades until being renewed from 1979 to 1982.[8] In 1979, No. 7 Nebraska overcame a two-touchdown second-half deficit to beat unranked Iowa, resulting in a standing ovation from fans of both teams.[9] Two years later, Iowa upset No. 7 Nebraska at Kinnick Stadium in what head coach Hayden Fry called "the biggest win since I've been here."[10]

The teams met just two other times, dominant Nebraska victories in 1999 and 2000, before NU joined the Big Ten Conference in 2011.

Conference series

Nebraska has played a rivalry game on the day after Thanksgiving since 1990, first against Oklahoma and later against Colorado.[11] Iowa became NU's traditional Black Friday opponent when the Cornhuskers joined the Big Ten Conference in 2011. Established as the "Heroes Game," it is used to recognize individuals from both states for acts of heroism in their communities.[12] Nebraska won the Heroes Trophy in each of its first two seasons before Iowa took control of the series.

In 2017, the Big Ten announced that the Iowa–Nebraska game would not take place on Black Friday in 2020 or 2021.[13] After significant pushback from fans and public opposition from NU athletic director Bill Moos, the change was reverted.[14][15]

Iowa has won nine of the ten meetings since 2014, the year Nebraska fired Bo Pelini one day after a regular season-finale win over the Hawkeyes.[16] The series is played annually as one of twelve Big Ten protected rivalries; even-year games are played in Iowa City and odd-year games in Lincoln.[17]

Game results

Iowa victoriesNebraska victories
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
1 November 26, 1891 Omaha Iowa 22–0
2 November 24, 1892 Omaha Tie10–10
3 November 30, 1893 Omaha Nebraska 20–18
4 November 29, 1894 Omaha Nebraska 36–0
5 November 28, 1895 Omaha Nebraska 6–0
6 November 26, 1896 Omaha Tie0–0
7 November 28, 1896 Omaha Iowa 6–0
8 November 25, 1897 Council Bluffs Nebraska 6–0
9 November 24, 1898 Council Bluffs Iowa 6–5
10 November 4, 1899 Omaha Iowa 30–0
11 October 31, 1903 Iowa City Nebraska 17–6
12 November 5, 1904 Lincoln Nebraska 17–12
13 October 31, 1908 Iowa City Nebraska 11–8
14 October 23, 1909 Lincoln Tie6–6
15 November 22, 1913 Lincoln Nebraska 12–0
16 November 21, 1914 Iowa City Nebraska 16–7
17 November 20, 1915 Lincoln Nebraska 52–7
18 November 25, 1916 Iowa City Nebraska 34–17
19 October 13, 1917 Lincoln Nebraska 47–0
20 October 5, 1918 Lincoln Iowa 12–0
21 October 4, 1919 Iowa City Iowa 18–0
22 November 22, 1930 Iowa City Iowa 12–7
23 November 7, 1931 Lincoln Nebraska 7–0
24 November 5, 1932 Iowa City Nebraska 14–13
25 November 25, 1933 Lincoln Nebraska 7–6
26 October 13, 1934 Lincoln Nebraska 14–13
27 November 20, 1937 Lincoln Nebraska 28–0
28 November 19, 1938 Iowa City Nebraska 14–0
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
29 November 9, 1940 Lincoln Nebraska 14–6
30 November 22, 1941 Lincoln Nebraska 14–13
31 September 26, 1942 Iowa City Iowa 27–0
32 November 20, 1943 Lincoln Iowa 33–13
33 November 4, 1944 Iowa City Iowa 27–6
34 November 24, 1945 Lincoln Nebraska 13–6
35 October 12, 1946 Iowa City Iowa 21–7
36 September 22, 1979 Iowa City #7 Nebraska 24–21
37 September 20, 1980 Lincoln #6 Nebraska 57–0
38 September 12, 1981 Iowa City Iowa 10–7
39 September 11, 1982 Lincoln #3 Nebraska 42–7
40 September 4, 1999 Iowa City #5 Nebraska 42–7
41 September 23, 2000 Lincoln #1 Nebraska 42–13
42 November 25, 2011 Lincoln #22 Nebraska 20–7
43 November 23, 2012 Iowa City #17 Nebraska 13–7
44 November 29, 2013 Lincoln Iowa 38–17
45 November 28, 2014 Iowa City Nebraska 37–34OT
46 November 27, 2015 Lincoln #3 Iowa 28–20
47 November 25, 2016 Iowa City Iowa 40–10
48 November 24, 2017 Lincoln Iowa 56–14
49 November 23, 2018 Iowa City Iowa31–28
50 November 29, 2019 Lincoln #17 Iowa 27–24
51 November 27, 2020 Iowa City #24 Iowa 26–20
52 November 26, 2021 Lincoln #16 Iowa 28–21
53 November 25, 2022 Iowa City Nebraska 24–17
54 November 24, 2023 Lincoln #17 Iowa 13–10
55 November 29, 2024 Iowa City Iowa 13–10
Series: Nebraska leads 30–22–3[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers football series history". Winsipedia.
  2. ^ "Rivalry results: Iowa-Nebraska football". Sioux City Journal. November 24, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  3. ^ "Looking back at the Nebraska-Iowa rivalry". The Daily Nebraskan. Lincoln, Nebraska. November 22, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  4. ^ "Nebraska's Black Friday rivalry game with Iowa will return in 2022". Omaha World-Herald. August 30, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  5. ^ "Nebraska Football Part II – The 1891 Season". Omaha Exploration. January 5, 2025. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
  6. ^ Mark Fricke. "Nebraska Football In The 1890s" (PDF). library.la84.org. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  7. ^ "A Battle Royal Thanksgiving Day". Omaha Daily Bee. Omaha, Nebraska. November 12, 1893. p. 10. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  8. ^ "Huskers stand tall over Hawkeyes in all-time series". Omaha World-Herald. November 20, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  9. ^ "NU-Iowa Grit Gets Standing Ovation". Omaha World-Herald. September 22, 1979. Archived from the original on November 24, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  10. ^ "Hawkeyes Paint the Big Red Blue". Omaha World-Herald. September 12, 1981. Archived from the original on November 24, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  11. ^ Steven Elonich (November 26, 2019). "8 quick facts about Husker football's history on Black Friday". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
  12. ^ "Pioneer to Honor Local Heroes as Title Sponsor in Iowa-Nebraska "Heroes Game"". Iowa Athletics. August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
  13. ^ Parker Gabriel (September 12, 2017). "NU-Iowa leaving Black Friday after 2019; rivalry rotation likely". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  14. ^ Steven Sipple (May 6, 2018). "Moos says of NU-Iowa becoming permanent on Black Friday: 'Not quite there but close'". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  15. ^ Chad Leistikow (February 5, 2021). "Revised 2021 Big Ten football schedule returns Iowa-Nebraska to Black Friday". Hawk Central. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
  16. ^ Connor O'Gara (November 27, 2020). "The curse of Bo Pelini? Nebraska's 6th consecutive loss to Iowa puts things into perspective". Saturday Tradition. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
  17. ^ "Big Ten Conference Announces Future Football Schedule Formats for 2024-28". Big Ten Conference. October 3, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
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