Handshake snub adds fuel to Nebraska-Iowa rivalry

A few hours later, Rhule walked through the Iowa pregame warmup to the ire of Higgins and the rest of the Hawkeye players.

"Our guys are warming up, doing our pregame and their head coach walked through the warmup," Higgins said to reporters after the game. "So we immediately knew what type of game this was."

If that wasn't enough, Nebraska captains Elliott Brown, Emmett Johnson, MJ Sherman and DeShon Singleton refused to shake the hands of Higgins and the Iowa captains during the coin toss, pouring some gas on a fire that had been simmering in the house leading up to the game.

While it's unknown whether the snub was related to the incident when the Huskers arrived at the stadium, The Athletic's Mitch Sherman theorized that it was due to several shows of disrespect by the Hawkeyes in a rivalry that has now seen Iowa beat Nebraska on last-minute field goals in four of the past seven meetings.

"They do not like Iowa," Sherman wrote. "Those Nebraska players didn't want to engage in an act of good sportsmanship in the company of that opponent. They did not care about respecting the game in a series that has included repeated moments of disrespect – in their view – committed by the Hawkeyes and directed at Nebraska. 

The Huskers are not above a petty gesture. They are mad. They've had enough. And it's disingenuous of the Hawkeyes to act as if they don't understand or that this protest came out of the blue."

Sherman went on to cite Chubba Purdy's interception that set up Marshall Meeders's 38-yard game-winner in Lincoln last year and two years ago when Iowa fans waved goodbye to the Huskers and their fans after reclaiming the Freedom Trophy.

He also referenced a loss in 2019 when Keith Duncan turned to the Nebraska bench, wagged his finger and blew kisses after hitting a 48-yard walk-off field goal.

Nonetheless, Higgins brought up the handshake snub to Rhule while standing close to him on Iowa's first defensive series of the game and accused Rhule of replying "Who are you?"

Nebraska rode the mindgames to take a 10-point lead at halftime. But the Hawkeyes scored 13 unanswered points in the second half including a 72-yard touchdown reception by running back Caleb Johnson and a 53-yard field goal by Drew Stevens moments after Iowa's Max Llewellyn stripped Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola with 20 seconds remaining to secure the win.

It led Higgins to get his elusive handshakes by running up to Rhule and the Nebraska captains after the game.

"After the game, because they didn't want to shake our hands before the game, I went up to their head coach and shook his hand and told him good game," Higgins explained.

It was another sign of a rivalry that has reached its boiling point since being reinstated with the Huskers move to the Big Ten in 2011 and should set up an interesting backstory when the two teams meet in Lincoln next fall.