Iowa's Offense Makes Up For Inexcusable Errors vs. Nebraska

Through 15 minutes, Emmett Johnson was on pace for 528 rushing yards. After putting up 132 yards on the ground in the first quarter, Iowa quickly realized they somehow didn't prepare for Nebraska's biggest weapon.

The Cornhuskers jumped out to a 7-0 lead thanks to a 70-yard run from Johnson. A little bit of misdirection completely screwed up Iowa's defense as they all guessed wrong, but somehow they managed to stop Johnson at the one-inch line. Ultimately, it didn't matter as Nebraska scored anyways.

Iowa put up 10 unanswered, but Nebraska came back with a field goal and changed the course of the game with a modified onside kick. Due to the conditions, it's incredibly hard to kick it out of the end zone. Instead, Nebraska went for a squib kick that went 39 yards, dropping at the Hawkeyes 26 yard line. It took a Nebraska bounce, and they were able to jump on it before Iowa. Special teams, which have been stellar for Iowa all season, worked against them there.

Iowa's Offense Keeping Them Alive

While it's important to point out the errors, this Iowa team would be nothing without Mark Gronowski. In his final regular season game with the team, he's putting on an absolute show. Gronowski is fighting through the snow as he's used a stellar mix of both his arm and legs to put up plenty of first half points for the Hawkeyes.

Gronowski doesn't have a ton of touchdown passes on the season, but his 35-yarder to Vonnahme was a thing of beauty. In the next drive, he had a 26-yard pass and 29-yard run that highlighted a first half that was all about the big play. It wasn't just Gronowski though as Kamari Moulton found the end-zone for the first time since Iowa played at Wisconsin on October 11.

Moulton's touchdown was just the beginning of his big half as he exploded for a 34-yard run as part of Iowa's no-huddle offense towards the end of the first half. An 11-yard pass to Phillips set up the Hawkeyes for an easy Gronowski rushing touchdown. That was a great sign for Iowa as it looked like he'd banged up his arm earlier in the drive.