The Nebraska-Iowa rivalry added another chapter Friday night when Hawkeyes players were ejected during the pregame coin toss before pulling out a 13-10 comeback victory.

When the captains of both teams met at midfield, the Nebraska quartet refused to extend their hands to the Iowa players seeking a handshake.

Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins explained after the game that they sensed something was up when Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule went through the Hawkeyes’ pregame warmups.

“Our guys warm up, do our pregame and their head coach went through the warm up,” Higgins said. “So we knew right away what kind of game this was.”

There was plenty of gamesmanship long before kick-off. Athletic’s Mitch Sherman noted that the Cornhuskers arrived at Kinnick Stadium early in the day and were prepared to go through their pregame prayer at center field, but were blocked from doing so by security.

Iowa ended up having the last laugh Friday after erasing a 10-point deficit by scoring 13 unanswered points in the second half. Drew Stevens hit a 53-yard field goal as time expired to give the Hawkeyes a 13-10 win.

The field goal was set up by Max Llewellyn’s sack of Dylan Raiola as the Huskers attempted to drive into Iowa territory.

Higgins seized the moment by running up to Rhule, shaking his hand and saying “good game”.

Friday marked the 55th all-time meeting between Iowa and Nebraska. The Cornhuskers lead the series 30-22-3, but Iowa has dominated the rivalry for most of the past decade.

Since the Cornhuskers joined the Big Ten in 2011, these two teams have played 14 times. Iowa has won 10 of those games, including a 9-1 record since 2015.

Iowa improved to 8-4 overall this season and will be headed to a bowl game for the fourth year in a row. Nebraska fell to 6-6 but will be bowl eligible for the first time since 2016.