Nebraska Cornhuskers vs Iowa Hawkeyes Match Player Stats On Nov 25, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Nov 25, 2016

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Nebraska was the team at No. 16 in this week's College Football Playoff rankings, but Iowa dominated in every facet of the Black Friday matchup and defeated the Cornhuskers 40-10 at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa's victory over Nebraska guarantees that No. 6 Wisconsin will represent the Big Ten West Division in Indianapolis for next week's conference championship game.

Explosive plays throughout the first half propelled the Hawkeyes to their third win over the Cornhuskers in the last four seasons.

The first came in the first quarter when junior running back Akrum Wadley ran untouched for a 75-yard touchdown. A blocked extra-point try, however, kept the score 6-0.

Moments later, Iowa (8-4, 6-3) struck again when senior quarterback C.J. Beathard connected on a pass with a wide-open Riley McCarron, who proceeded to outrun Nebraska's secondary for a 77-yard touchdown reception to make it 13-0.

Nebraska (9-3, 6-3) responded in the second quarter with a 10-play scoring drive that ended with junior kicker Drew Brown connecting on a 35-yard field goal.

But Iowa came right back with a 4-yard touchdown run by senior running back LeShun Daniels Jr. to extend the lead to 20-3 heading into halftime.

Daniels' score was set up by a run he had two plays earlier when he scampered 56 yards before being pulled down at the Nebraska 8-yard line. He finished with 158 yards rushing on 29 carries.

The third quarter started with the Hawkeyes continuing to dominate. After the defense forced a three-and-out, Nebraska was called for a face-mask penalty on Desmond King's punt return, which gave Iowa the ball at Nebraska's 13-yard line.

Three plays later, Beathard found senior tight end George Kittle for the first of his two second-half touchdown receptions to make the score 26-3. Iowa attempted a two-point conversion after the Cornhuskers were called offside on a missed PAT attempt but did not convert.

Nebraska's best drive of the day came during the third quarter when the Cornhuskers marched 75 yards down the field and ended a 14-play possession with a 13-yard touchdown pass by senior quarterback Tommy Armstrong to sophomore receiver Stanley Morgan Jr. on a fourth-and-10 play.

Outside of that possession when Armstrong completed five passes, he had a lackluster performance. He finished just 13 of 35 for 125 yards through the air.

Iowa delivered the knockout punch in the fourth quarter when Beathard found Kittle again for a 6-yard touchdown pass to make it a three-possession game. This touchdown came after a running into the kicker penalty on Nebraska negated a 32-yard field goal by Iowa freshman Keith Duncan. Daniels tacked on his second touchdown run in the closing minutes.

NOTES: Iowa senior RB LeShun Daniels Jr. went over 1,000 yards rushing for the season, making him the first Hawkeyes running back to do so since Marcus Coker in 2011. Daniels and junior RB Akrum Wadley also became the first running back duo to each have more than 900 yards on the ground for Iowa since the 1984 season. ... As a result of Friday's defeat, Nebraska still finds itself needing a win now in its pending bowl game to ensure the Cornhuskers of their first 10-win season since 2012. Winning the bowl game would also give Nebraska its first season with less than four losses since 2003. ... Iowa finished the game converting three of its 13 third-down attempts. The Hawkeyes won last year's meeting in Lincoln despite not converting a single third down, going 0 of 9 in a 28-20 win over Nebraska.