Not long after Bill Moos took over as Nebraska’s athletic director in October, he dialed up an old friend from the Pacific Northwest.
Moos had an important football matter to discuss with Iowa athletic director Gary Barta, formerly a senior associate AD at Washington while Moos was Oregon’s head honcho.
Let’s eventually have Nebraska and Iowa play on Black Fridays forever, Moos told Barta.
“We started that discussion the first time we connected after I got the job,†Moos told me last week.
“We talked about it a bit more on the field before we played Iowa this past fall,†he added.
Moos perhaps should’ve talked to Nebraska's players about the game’s importance. The Huskers didn’t show up for the fight, and the Hawkeyes celebrated a 56-14 triumph, their fourth in the past five games of the series.
People are also reading…
But there was a broader issue on Moos’ mind that late-November day, and really, throughout these early stages of his tenure.
He craves having a football rival.
College football is largely defined by rivalries. He’s been a part of some intense ones, and obviously thinks Nebraska-Iowa has potential.
“It was important to me, to preserve playing on Black Friday, and establish Iowa as our rival,†Moos said. “I’m big into rivalries. Grew up in them."
The discussion can be tricky because different fans have different ideas of what even constitutes a rivalry. Back in the Big 12 days, some Nebraska fans came to consider Kansas State a rival, but not everyone agreed. I think rivalries fall under the category of, “You’ll know it when you see it.â€
Or feel it.
“Believe it or not, the biggest one I’ve experienced might be the Griz-Cat game between Montana and Montana State. That was an absolute fistfight,†said Moos, Montana’s AD from 1990-95.
Ever since Nebraska began Big Ten play in 2011, Iowa has been ready for a fistfight against Big Red. Meanwhile, the Huskers often have been comparatively soft, especially under Mike Riley.
If Moos’ determination to have the teams forever play on Black Friday — which apparently will be the case starting in 2022 — adds an aura of importance to the game, well, he will perhaps have helped sharpen Nebraska's competitive edge in the series.
Bottom line, there's no way Nebraska ever should consistently get outslugged by its border rival.
Yes, I said “rival.†But I say it loosely. The border aspect helps. But the best rivalries usually develop over time, as a result of circumstances and implications of games, as opposed to someone merely declaring a rivalry. Nebraska-Oklahoma was so rich in history — with gigantic games and all-time great players and personalities — that you wonder if the Huskers ever again will experience anything like it.
Nebraska-Iowa obviously has potential. The Hawkeyes seem enthusiastic about the game, based on how they play every year. I know this: If NU would have approached the Iowa game last November like Montana and Montana State approach their annual rivalry game, the Huskers wouldn’t have been dismantled so thoroughly.
“Montana and Montana State used to play in October because the weather usually was going to be good,†Moos said. “But inevitably, both teams would lose their next game because they were spent. I’m thinking, we have to move that game to the end of the year because guys are going to die out there.â€
Moos loves this stuff. Thinks it’s an absolute hoot. He thinks back to his early days in athletic administration at Washington State, in the 1980s. He recalls Don James-led Washington bringing a one-loss team to Washington State for the Apple Cup — and losing.
“My job the next morning was picking up travel agents’ fliers for the Huskies to go to the Rose Bowl — all their fans had dropped them in our parking lot,†said Moos, with a hearty chuckle.
He’ll talk to you all day about rivalries. He’ll tell you about his Washington State teammates in the 1970s cutting off their own casts in the locker room after the Apple Cup — no way they were going to miss that game.
He’ll tell you about his time as AD at Oregon, with those uncomfortable road trips to play Oregon State.
Uncomfortable?
“I dreaded going up there,†he said. “It’s the only time I would go to Corvallis, and I even had great friends up there. But it was just so vicious.â€
Especially on gamedays.
“I would get off our team bus, and me and Kendra (his wife) would try to get to the elevator to get to the visiting AD’s box, but all those fans out there tailgating would be saying, ‘Screw you, Moos, you a--hole, quack, quack, quack!’â€
Fans can be beautiful. Just beautiful.
“To illustrate the power of the rivalry, when I went back as Washington State’s AD, I’m the same guy taking the same walk to get to the same elevator, and Beaver fans would be going, ‘Hey, Bill, come on over and have a beer with us. Have a hot dog,' or 'Man, you’ll love these brats.'â€
Moos is right: Nebraska needs a rival. It needs Iowa on Black Friday.
“I want that exclusive window when everybody’s on the couch watching,†he said.
That’s a start. Maybe it can spark up something — some juicy stories of our own to tell. Quack, quack, quack.
Or maybe Wisconsin will become the focus. Maybe someone else.
Give it time. It’ll be worth the wait.