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| Nebraska is on its way to Indianapolis. (US Presswire) |
NEBRASKA WON. If all the tryptophan in the turkey you ate on Thursday didn't put you to sleep, surely this game did. It's even possible that both of these teams were still in some kind of turkey coma for this game, as both teams struggled with wind gusts reaching up to 40mph in Iowa City on Friday.
WHY NEBRASKA WON. It tried to? Neither offense played well, but there really were times where I had to question whether or not Iowa was actually trying to win this game. Trailing 13-7 with under nine minutes to play the Hawkeyes got the ball back at around midfield. They then ran three run plays, including a halfback dive on third and four that picked up a yard. Without hesitation the Hawkeyes punted the ball right back to Nebraska.
Then, after Nebraska punted the ball back to Iowa with three minutes to go, Iowa pretended it had all the time in the world. The Hawkeyes ran two plays and picked up 12 yards while running 80 seconds off the clock. I have absolutely no idea what the plan was, but fortunately before I could become even more confused James Vandenberg threw an interception.
WHEN NEBRASKA WON: When Alonzo Whaley picked off that Vandenberg pass I just mentioned. Though you could probably say that this game was over when Rex Burkhead's three-yard touchdown made it 13-7 Cornhuskers with over 18 minutes to play. Bo Pelini was so confident in his team's lead he didn't even bother going for two to make it a 14-7 game instead.
WHAT NEBRASKA WON: This win clinched the Legends Division for the Cornhuskers. That means Nebraska will be heading to Indianapolis to take on Wisconsin for the Big Ten championship in only its second season in the conference.
WHAT IOWA LOST: I think this depends on who you're asking. If you ask an Iowa fan they'll probably tell you that they lost a game but gained an offseason.
