The Nebraska Cornhuskers blew a halftime lead in Friday night’s 13-10 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes but Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins added insult to injury, calling out Nebraska players and head coach Matt Rhule for refusing to shake their hands before the game.
The issue began when the Huskers arrived at Kinnick Stadium on Friday afternoon. The Huskers walked to the 50-yard line to gather in a team prayer but were greeted by uniformed police officers guarding the Hawkeye logo at midfield.
A few hours later, Rhule walked through the Iowa pregame warmup to the ire of Higgins and the rest of the Hawkeye players.
Related: Here are the best PFF Cornhuskers grades in loss to Iowa
“Our guys are warming up, doing our pregame and their head coach walked through the warmup,” Higgins said to reporters after the game. “So we immediately knew what type of game this was.”
If that wasn’t enough, Nebraska captains Elliott Brown, Emmett Johnson, MJ Sherman and DeShon Singleton refused to shake the hands of Higgins and the Iowa captains during the coin toss, pouring some gas on a fire that had been simmering in the house leading up to the game.