Mike Farrell Sports

College Football Recruiting, Opinion, and Analysis

Iowa & Nebraska Start on Inevitable 2024 Collision Course

The Nebraska Cornhuskers and Iowa Hawkeyes will clash for high stakes on Black Friday

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By Rock Westfall

At the onset of preseason training camps, the Iowa Hawkeyes and Nebraska Cornhuskers are on opposite ends of the media hype and expectations game.

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule is building a defiant, contrarian culture based on hard work, loyalty, commitment, and not relying on the transfer portal. Nebraska won the offseason national championship with this culture and the arrival of 5-star QB sensation Dylan Raoila, who Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes calls “my little cuzzo.” Expectations are always over the top at Nebraska, but there is a sense that 2024 is more reality and substance-based. The media is swooning, and the fans are freely making X-posts about gulping the Big Red Kool-Aid with glee.

As Rhule builds his culture in the face of portal and bag-era tornados, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz completed that task two decades ago. Iowa was already a meat and potatoes program before Nebraska descended into the abyss. While Iowa’s offense has been offensive in recent years, the fact remains that the Hawkeyes have posted three 10-win seasons in the past four full non-COVID campaigns with final win percentages of .692 or better in five of the last six years.

While unproven Nebraska is getting all the preseason love, proven Iowa is being ignored. If history tells us anything, looking past Ferentz’s Hawkeyes is foolish and dangerous.

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The Defense Doesn’t Rest  

Iowa’s defense sparked it to a 10-win campaign in 2023. The Hawkeyes ranked 7th overall and 4th for points allowed. As impressive as that performance was, Iowa will be even better in 2024. Iowa brings significant experience to its lineup, including four 6-year players and arguably the best linebacking corps in the country. Legendary defensive coordinator Phil Parker is the cherry on top as the 2023 Broyles Award winner as the nation’s top-ranked assistant coach.

Nebraska’s 2023 defense was nearly as good, with marks of 11th overall in the country and 14th for points allowed. It was a defense good to make the Big Ten championship game but, like Iowa, was betrayed by an inept turnover machine offense. The Big Red defense is also expected to improve under nationally coveted coordinator Tony White in his second year.

Getting productively Offensive 

The Hawkeyes made an offseason splash by hiring former Western Michigan head coach Tim Lester as offensive coordinator from the Green Bay Packers, where he worked as an analyst with head coach Matt LaFleur and one of the most sophisticated offenses in football.

Lester was something of a surprise hire by Ferentz, but the two immediately connected. “We spoke the same language as far as what we believe in and what we believe works,” Lester said in a lengthy press conference at camp headquarters. “I was getting more and more excited (about Iowa) over some of the opportunities I had to stay in the NFL.”

Lester intends to run an offense based on what former NFL head coach and 2-time Super Bowl champion Mike Shanahan used. Shanahan’s son, Kyle Shanahan, uses a similar offense with great success as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.

Lester has created an offense that fits the Ferentz blueprint of being responsible but with the ability to strike. It is not an offense that is widely seen or understood in the college ranks. While Iowa has always used the running game as its starting point, Lester intends to make a difference with more effective passing, playing off a successful rushing attack.

“It’s the new pro-style. It’s more spread,” Lester explained. “It’s definitely been driven by college offenses a little bit. The key to the whole thing, there’s a couple run plays that are very unique that you’ve got to get going. If you can get those going, they’ve done a great job (in the NFL) of allowing it to become explosive. They all focus on running the ball. If you can run the ball, everything (follows).”

Lester’s time in Green Bay allowed him to study different offenses and defenses. “That’s the exciting part for us,” Lester said. “We are running something that a lot of defensive coordinators will have not seen. Just the presentation and the way we go about it.”

Merely Mediocre Offense Could Mean Playoffs  

Iowa’s putrid offense ranked 133rd in the country last year. If they could merely improve into the middle class, combined with its stout defense, the possibility of a berth in the expanded College Football Playoff beckons.

Like Nebraska, Iowa has a manageable 2024 schedule set up for success. Seemingly, the only near-certain loss is at Ohio State on October 5th. But if the offense is up to speed, even that matchup at the Shoe could be an upset alert. For all the hype about its loaded roster, the Buckeyes enter camp unsettled at quarterback, which is not promising against an Iowa defense that should get support from what should be an improved offense. Additionally, Iowa will have played four games, getting into sync, and with a bye-week leading into its trip to Columbus.

Iowa and Nebraska are on a collision course for an NBC prime-time Black Friday (November 29) showdown at Kinnick Stadium. As optimistic and excited as Husker Nation is, winning at Kinnick that night will be a tall task in what should be one of the top college football games in 2024. In fact, the matchup could be for a CFP berth.

Nebraska and the rest of the Big Ten must remember that those who look past Iowa are often blindsided, especially at Kinnick Stadium. Just ask Michigan, Penn State, and Ohio State about leaving Kinnick battered, bruised, humbled, and defeated.

Indeed, Black Friday will not be a turkey but, rather, a sweet college football desert of potentially epic proportions. 

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