The Iowa–Nebraska football rivalry is an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

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 ...

between the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 20 sports, 7 for men and 13 for women; The teams participate in Division I of the Nati ...

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 competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

. 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 Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, Nebraska, was the first game Iowa had ever played outside of its home state. Other notable games during the 20th century occurred during the four-year renewal of the rivalry from 1979 to 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 known ...

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

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, the teams resumed the rivalry on an annual basis and played on the Friday following

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

. Starting that year, the game was referred to as the "Heroes Game" and the Heroes Trophy was awarded to the winner. Sponsored by Hy-Vee, the game recognizes individuals from both states 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

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the 2020 and 2021 games were ultimately rescheduled to Black Friday as well. Since 1903, the rivalry has never been contested anyplace besides Lincoln, Nebraska or Iowa City, Iowa; and now alternates between the two respective campuses. Odd-year games are played in Lincoln, while even-year games are played in Iowa City.

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