Hawkeyes, Huskers Approved to Continue Friday Football

Feb. 26, 2013

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The Administrators Council of the Big Ten Conference has approved the Iowa and Nebraska recommendation to move the Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013 football game to Friday, Nov. 29, and to schedule the annual Hy-Vee Heroes Game on the Friday after Thanksgiving in 2014 (Nov. 28) and beyond. The approval was announced Tuesday by the Big Ten.

The third annual Hy-Vee Heroes Game will take place Friday, Nov. 29, 2013, in Lincoln. Start time and television information will be released at a later date. The teams met on the Friday following Thanksgiving in both 2011 (Lincoln) and 2012 (Iowa City).

“We’re excited about playing our annual football game with Nebraska on the Friday after Thanksgiving for a number of reasons,” said Gary Barta, UI’s director of athletics. “This provides the student-athletes who have already lost the opportunity to spend the holiday at home with their families two days away from football. In addition, the Friday television window provides great exposure for our program. We greatly appreciate the adjustments in schedules that our fans, and those who help us stage the game in Iowa City every other year, will have to make.”

The Cornhuskers and Hawkeyes met in the Hy-Vee 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 Hy-Vee 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. 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.