Iowa Hawkeyes 2025 Opponent Preview: Nebraska Cornhuskers

The Cornhuskers, though, went on a skid, losing their next four contests to Indiana, Ohio State, UCLA and USC. They beat Wisconsin in their 11th game before falling to the Hawkeyes to go 6-6 in the regular season.

Nebraska earned a spot in the Pinstripe Bowl, where the Cornhuskers beat Boston College 20-15. Prior to the game, Nebraska had the longest bowl game drought among power conference programs.

Key returners

QB Dylan Raiola (So.), RB Emmett Johnson (Jr.), WR Jacory Barney Jr. (So.), OL Henry Lutovsky (Sr.), DB DeShon Singleton (Sr.), DB Ceyair Wright (Sr.), DB Malcolm Hartzog (Sr.).

Notable transfer additions

WR Dane Key (Kentucky), DL Williams Nwaneri (Missouri), OL Elijah Pritchett (Alabama), LB Dasan McCullough (Oklahoma), OL Rocco Spindler (Notre Dame), WR Nyziah Hunter (Cal).

Strengths

Raiola came to Nebraska as a 5-star prospect, and he showed flashes of brilliance in his first college football season.

He helped lead the Cornhuskers to their first bowl game in almost a decade, finishing the year with 2,819 passing yards on a 67.1% completion percentage.

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Raiola should continue to develop, and he is surrounded by talent in the Nebraska offense. 

In addition to Lutovsky returning to the line, the Cornhuskers added Spindler — a star at Notre Dame — from the transfer portal. The Cornhuskers also added a pair of talented wideouts in Key and Hunter from the portal.

Raiola certainly struggled with ball control in 2024, throwing 11 interceptions. But that isn’t overly surprising in a defense-heavy league like the Big Ten.

As he matures and gets more comfortable in Nebraska’s offense, that number should decrease.

Weaknesses

Nebraska finished in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten in most statistical categories. 

But the Cornhuskers really fell short on their fourth-down attempts.

They went just 9-of-23 on fourth downs. Their 39.1% conversion clip was 16th out of 18 Big Ten members, ahead of only Purdue and Iowa.

Nebraska also finished in the bottom half (10th) in third-down conversions, converting on 75 of 177 (42.4%) attempts.

How do the Cornhuskers match up with the Hawkeyes?

The Iowa-Nebraska rivalry is almost always close. Though the Hawkeyes have won nine of the last 10 meetings, the last seven games have been decided by one score.

Iowa has won 13-10 in each of the last two years, but this meeting has the potential to be higher scoring.

The Hawkeyes brought in quarterback Mark Gronowski from South Dakota State. He served as the Jackrabbits’ starting quarterback for four seasons from 2020 to 2025, leading them to two FCS national championships.

For Nebraska, Raiola has star potential. He has much to learn about ball control, but his potential showed in 2024.

The Cornhuskers get the benefit of playing this year’s game in Lincoln, but both programs have devoted fan bases, so Hawkeye fans will do what they can to neutralize Nebraska’s home-field advantage.