The Athletic has live coverage of the Big Ten championship game featuring Michigan vs. Iowa

LINCOLN, Neb. — Iowa’s preseason camp began with its backup kicker charged with betting on its football games. Nearly four months later, his replacement drilled the winner on the game’s final play in the regular-season finale.

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It’s been a heck of a journey for No. 17 Iowa (10-2 overall, 7-2 Big Ten) this fall, and perhaps it’s fitting backup kicker Marshall Meeder provided the final 38 1/2-yard oomph in a 13-10 win Friday against Nebraska. Reinforced with mounds of spackle to cover up obvious warts, sometimes even Iowa’s strengths become weaknesses. That was the case with slumping kicker Drew Stevens, who had two field goals blocked in the first half and knocked two kickoffs out of bounds.

2018: Miguel Recinos, 41-yard FG
2019: Keith Duncan, 48-yard FG
2023: Marshall Meeder, 38-yard FG

Here's a look back at @HawkeyeFootball's recent late FGs to stun rival Nebraska.

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) November 24, 2023

Instead of subjecting the sophomore to a stressful situation in the coldest game of the season, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz turned to Meeder. At Central Michigan, Meeder kicked 30 field goals and 88 extra points. He was a freshman All-American in 2020 but chose to transfer after last season. Two weeks into training camp, special teams coordinator LeVar Woods asked Meeder if he wanted to join the Hawkeyes. He accepted less than a week before classes began.

Then Meeder sat and waited. He watched Stevens become the Big Ten special teams performer of the week after a 52-yard game-winner against Northwestern. But at halftime Friday, Woods told Meeder he was next up for field goals. Unlike a chaotic first half in which Iowa had chances and blew opportunities, nothing came Meeder’s way after halftime. The Hawkeyes didn’t get a first down in the third quarter and recorded only three in the fourth.

Finally, the moment came with four seconds remaining. With the ball centered at the Nebraska 20-yard line, Meeder entered the game. He emptied his mind and concentrated only on his task.

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“I’m really trying not to think about anything,” Meeder said. “It’s the same kick I’ve always made. It’s just a little more pressure, but I try not to let that get to me. I’ve done it a million times. There’s no reason to mess something up now.”

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Nebraska defenders used Iowa blockers to leap in the air to no avail. Meeder got the ball up high enough and barely deep enough. It drifted over the crossbar, and the Iowa sideline went wild. Defensive tackle Logan Lee lifted Meeder in the air, and players spilled onto the field. Officials waited to verify the last ticks had expired before leaving the field, and then the Iowa party moved to the fans gathered along the sideline.

Meeder entered the locker room after his teammates, who instantly lifted him in the air and showered him with water bottles. Barely three months ago, Meeder first enrolled at Iowa. Now, he’s a hero.

“That’s every kicker’s dream,” Meeder said.

Unsung hero

On a day reserved for heroes, as the trophy signifies between the Big Ten rivals, there were plenty of others for Iowa. Just as heroic as Meeder was defensive end Ethan Hurkett, who filled in for injured teammate Deontae Craig. Hurkett has come up big before, like with his fourth-down stop to defeat Iowa State earlier this season. But his play late against Nebraska dwarfed even that tackle for loss in Ames.

With 23 seconds left and the Huskers facing second-and-7 at their 48, quarterback Chubba Purdy dropped back to pass. Hurkett lined up at right defensive end, but at the snap, he shifted to the middle of the field in a zone blitz to replace middle linebacker Jay Higgins. Purdy didn’t see Hurkett and threw the ball directly to the Iowa junior. After corralling the ball, Hurkett took off and picked up 15 yards to the Nebraska 37 with 15 seconds left.

“I was kind of sitting back there in my zone, and I saw the ball get thrown,” Hurkett said. “It was, like, almost (in) slow motion, and fortunately God allowed me to catch it and then run a little bit afterward.”

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Hurkett led the Hawkeyes with nine tackles, including 1 1/2 for loss. He was everywhere during the game and especially at the most pivotal moment.

“With a D-lineman in coverage, we’re not asking for a whole lot,” Higgins said. “You kind of want the pressure to help him out. But Hurk has been talking about playing linebacker here for the last four years. I think he made a pretty good linebacker play.”

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Running hero

For a team long on heart and short on health, the running game has become a godsend for the Hawkeyes. For the ninth time this season, Iowa has exceeded 100 rushing yards, and it has won all nine games.

The most pivotal run took place after Hurkett’s interception. With first-and-10 at the Nebraska 37, Iowa lined up with three wide receivers, which spread out the Huskers defense. The Hawkeyes ran a counter with guard Rusty Feth and tight end Addison Ostrenga pulling from left to right, and quarterback Deacon Hill handed the ball to Leshon Williams up the middle.

Nebraska’s unblocked defenders were caught in the wash as Williams hit 10 yards. The physical runner then broke away from Nebraska defender Isaac Gifford and sprinted up the field before he was hauled down at the 15 with seven seconds left.

“I was just being patient,” Williams said. “The O-line opened up the hole for me. … I was trying to get us to field goal range. I was trying to score truthfully.”

Williams leads Iowa with 668 rushing yards this season and had 111 on 16 carries Friday.

Heroic victory

The victory marked just the seventh time in Iowa history the program has won at least 10 games in the regular season. Of the previous seven, none has dealt with the level of adversity this group has faced.

From the offseason gambling investigation; season-ending injuries costing them their starting quarterback, All-American cornerback and a pair of NFL-caliber tight ends; and interim athletics director Beth Goetz firing offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz with four games to go, this program has faced major obstacles and still hasn’t folded. Friday’s game was symbolic of the season.

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Iowa led 10-0 in the second quarter against Nebraska but allowed multiple scoring opportunities to fade. That included a dropped touchdown catch and a pair of missed field goals. Even when Nebraska took control of the game in the second half, the Hawkeyes didn’t waver.

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“These guys just don’t give up,” Kirk Ferentz said. “They got a lot of resiliency. I can’t say enough about them. So it’s a lot of fun to be with these guys on a daily basis.”

The final score marked yet another grinding outcome for the Hawkeyes, whose style of play doesn’t thrill many — if not most — observers. But to Ferentz, the bottom line is the result, which is what he relayed after receiving an email about “an ugly win” against Illinois.

“I got a joke or chuckle out of that because Big Ten football, November football, that’s kind of the way it works,” Ferentz said. “The bottom line: Football is not a beauty contest. It’s not like gymnastics, where you get style points. It’s about finding a way to be successful, finding a way to win the football game, and our guys have really done a good job of that.”

The one that got away

Iowa ends the season with three traveling trophies in its possession, but the one that got away remained atop Ferentz’s thoughts Friday. On Oct. 21, Minnesota beat Iowa 12-10 at Kinnick Stadium, but it wasn’t the outcome that came to the forefront; it was the touchdown that was stripped away.

With 1:32 left against the Gophers, Iowa’s Cooper DeJean caught a punt at his 46-yard line and returned it 54 yards for the touchdown. But before picking up the ball on a bounce, DeJean sprinted about 20 yards, pointed to the ground with his right hand and waved chest-high circles with his left hand.

Following a video review, first to check whether DeJean was out of bounds, it was determined he made an invalid fair catch. The touchdown was nullified.

When Ferentz was asked whether a 10th win was special, he started to answer the question, then got feisty in recalling why Iowa doesn’t sit 11-1.

“That means a lot because it’s the best what you do after losing to … I won’t go down that road,” Ferentz said. “We got screwed, OK? I’m just going to tell you. We got screwed in that one by the replay system. I’m still not happy about that, quite frankly. So that’s a different discussion for a different day. But nonetheless, it was a good season.

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“I don’t ever want to play that card. But I’m playing it right now. That’s still the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen in the last, what’s it, a quarter century? Take that replay stuff, blow it up, start over again.”

Three times when a reporter tried to ask a football-related question, Ferentz turned back to scorch the replay system. He said no officiating crew in pregame discussions has demonstrated the difference between a fair catch and an invalid signal.

“The whole context was if some official got screened, there’s an obvious mistake, correct it, let’s move on,” Ferentz said. “Now we’re making, like, a five-minute dissertation every time they go. … I’m scared to death every time they go over there. And it’s not the guys on the field’s fault. It’s not their fault. I want to be clear on that, too.”

Iowa has control over the Cy-Hawk, Heartland and now Heroes rivalry trophies. As for Floyd of Rosedale, well, there’s always next year.

(Top photo: Reese Strickland / USA Today)