The Iowa–Nebraska football rivalry is an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

between the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...

and

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

. The rivalry is usually held on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

History

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. The first meeting of the series, which occurred on Thanksgiving day in Omaha, Nebraska, was the first game Iowa had ever played outside of its home state. Other notable games during the 20th century occurred during the 4-year renewal of the rivalry in 1979-1982. In the 1979 meeting, #7 Nebraska prevailed over unranked Iowa after overcoming a two-touchdown deficit late in the third quarter, which resulted in a standing ovation from fans of both teams. In the 1981 meeting, unranked Iowa upset #7 Nebraska at Kinnick Stadium in what legendary Iowa coach

Hayden Fry John Hayden Fry (February 28, 1929 – December 17, 2019) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 1962 to 1972, North Texas State University—now know ...

called "the biggest win since I’ve been here." After Nebraska moved to the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, the teams have played annually on the Friday following

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

. Starting in 2011, the game was referred to as the "Heroes Game" and the Heroes Trophy was awarded to the winner of the game. The Heroes game, which is sponsored by

Hy-Vee Hy-Vee, Inc. () is an employee-owned chain of supermarkets in the Midwestern and Southern United States, with more than 280 locations in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and soon Indiana, Kentucky, ...

, is used to recognize individuals from each state for acts of heroism in their communities. In 2017 it was announced by the Big Ten Conference that in 2020 and 2021, the game would not take place on the Friday following Thanksgiving. After significant opposition from fans, Nebraska athletic director

Bill Moos William H. Moos (born circa 1951) is an American former college athletics administrator and college football player. He served as the athletic director at the University of Montana from 1990 to 1995, the University of Oregon from 1995 to 2007, Wa ...

made it a priority to restore the game to the Friday after Thanksgiving; accordingly, the Big Ten has scheduled the Iowa-Nebraska game for the Friday after Thanksgiving for all future post-2021 games through 2025. In the end, due to schedule changes related to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the 2020 and 2021 games were ultimately rescheduled to Black Friday as well. Since joining the Big Ten, Nebraska has beaten Iowa four times, three times on the road and once at home.

Game results

References

External links

Iowa–Nebraska series history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iowa-Nebraska football rivalry College football rivalries in the United States Iowa Hawkeyes football Nebraska Cornhuskers football Big Ten Conference rivalries

History

Game results

See also

References

External links