Crazy stat about Iowa’s win over Nebraska goes viral

Dec 27, 2019; San Diego, California, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz reacts in the second quarter against the Southern California Trojans during the Holiday Bowl at SDCCU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Nebraska Cornhuskers dominated the Iowa Hawkeyes in every statistical category except for one on Friday night: The final score.

Despite out-gaining Iowa 334 to 164 and winning the time of possession in convincing fashion (39:01 to 20:59), a 53-yard field goal off the leg of kicker Drew Stevens sealed Nebraska’s fate as time expired.

“Drew’s a fricking beast,” Hawkeyes defensive end Max Llewellyn said, via ESPN. “What a kick.”

The booming field goal is the highlight but it’s not the story. Rather, that belongs to Nebraska, who failed to escape the demons of their past and melted down after taking a 10-0 lead into halftime.

A multitude of mental errors cost the Cornhuskers in the second half as they repeatedly gave Iowa extra chances. Still, their defense stepped up and played well, keeping the game incredibly tight until the bitter end. And it was bitter.

Iowa managed just five first downs over 60 minutes, the lowest total for a winning club since Arkansas in 2001. Teams had lost 90 straight games with five of fewer first downs until Friday night, a wild statistic that quickly went viral.

Iowa is the first FBS team to win a game with five or fewer first downs since Arkansas won 14-10 over UNLV on 8/30/2001 with only five. FBS teams with 5 or fewer first downs had lost 90 straight games between those two wins.

— Matt Benson (@mbenson6) November 30, 2024

The Hawkeyes were 0-for-10 on third down and completed just eight passes. By every conceivable metric, this game should have had a different ending.

With the loss, Nebraska falls to 6-6 on the season and 3-6 in the conference. Meanwhile, Iowa improves to an improbable 8-4 headed into Bowl season.