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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

rivalry between the Iowa Hawkeyes 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 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 ...

. 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, 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 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

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, 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