Hawkeyes, Huskers Request Friday Football

Jan. 31, 2013

IOWA CITY, IOWA — Gary Barta and Shawn Eichorst, directors of athletics at the University of Iowa and the University of Nebraska, respectively, will ask the Administrators Council of the Big Ten Conference to allow the Hawkeyes and Cornhuskers to continue playing the annual Hy-Vee Heroes Game on the Friday following Thanksgiving.

Barta and Eichorst will make the formal request when the Joint Council meets Feb. 25-26.

“Playing on Friday is something we are planning to continue,” said Barta. “There’s a process we have to finalize within the Big Ten and we’ll go through that process, but both schools are interested in that continuing.”

For more about Black Friday football games and more, read the “One-on-One with Gary Barta” interview inside the February edition of Hawk Talk Monthly presented by Transamerica: HERE.

Iowa is scheduled to play in Lincoln, Nov. 30, 2013, while Nebraska is slated to return to Iowa City on Nov. 29, 2014. Those dates would change to Nov. 29, 2013 and Nov. 28, 2014, following approval. Barta also said he expects Iowa and Nebraska to continue meeting on the final weekend of the regular season, pending Big Ten schedule changes for 2014 and beyond due to Big Ten expansion.

The Cornhuskers and Hawkeyes met in the Heroes Game on Black Friday in each of the past two seasons, with Nebraska winning 20-7 in 2011 in Lincoln and 13-7 last November in Iowa City. Both games were televised by ABC. The Heroes Game has raised $20,000 for the American Red Cross over the last two years.

Nebraska holds a 28-12-3 advantage in the series, winning the last five meetings. The teams have met just eight times since 1946.

Iowa and Nebraska met eight consecutive years (1891-98) on Thanksgiving Day, with those eight games played in either Omaha or Council Bluffs.

Iowa and Nebraska are members of the Legends Division of the Big Ten Conference, along with Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and Northwestern.