Rivalry has ways of pulling you in, and for former Huskers linebacker Will Compton, the Iowa-Nebraska feud just got personal. After a crushing 37-10 loss to Penn State, Compton threw a subtle jab at former Iowa player George Kittle ahead of the game, poking fun at his own team’s struggles, but Kittle understood the drill and fired back hard. That’s when Compton reached his limit.

“Not surprised by Kittle taking shots at me & the Huskers on national television while I’m trying to keep my head above water. Only Iowa guys. I’d literally never spew nonsense like that on a platform like ESPN. Disgusting,” Huskers’ former linebacker and ESPN analyst Will Compton posted on X.

This response came in right after George Kittle trashed him during the live interview after the 49ers’ 20-9 win against the Panthers. So, Compton brought in the Iowa vs. Nebraska rivalry game, talking about how Kittle’s undefeated in Lincoln and poked fun at his own media career as the Bussin’ With the Boys podcast host and the Huskers’ loss against Penn State. He set up the stage for Kittle to speak, asking, “I don’t know if you want to address him directly or if this floor is yours.”

But the only response he got was brutal trash talk.

“Will Compton didn’t really appreciate your voice memo on the day of my Monday Night Football game, talking crap to me about Nebraska. Iowa didn’t settle with me. You know what? I didn’t like it. And you know, that’s just that’s the type of thing Nebraska does. They take cheap shots. I’m preparing for a Monday Night Football game on national television, and you’re coming to me about Nebraska, Iowa,” said 49ers tight end George Kittle on ESPN.

This isn’t the first time both of them have had a back-and-forth. Back in June, when Kittle visited Compton on his Bussin’ With the Boys podcast, he pulled a major prank on him. He went there to promote his “Tight End U” camp for the NFL and gifted Compton an Iowa helmet, saying, “Iowa is his daddy.” After this, Compton was in short supply for a while. Now, you know how deep this rivalry runs between them.

Back in 2021, Nebraska posted a tweet with a picture of a Cornhusker defender trying to tackle a Hawkeye, poking fun at Iowa, but Kittle fired back, pointing at their losing streak: “Posting a missed tackle from a game you’ve lost 6 years in a row. I would love more ‘interactions’ with you guys! @_willcompton You must be so proud. 😂🤣😂” Even Compton responded to it, saying, “Holy shit 🌾👀🌾. Now, this jab is another version of their classic verbal spat.

Kittle played for Iowa from 2013 to 2016. During that time, Iowa played Nebraska four times and won three of those games, and later continued dominating by winning six straight games with a combined score of 208-116. From 2023, Iowa even held a winning streak against Nebraska. Even though the Huskers lead the series with a 30-22-3 record, Iowa’s dominance is clear. That’s exactly why the Huskers need to revisit their mistakes against Penn State. As they gear up for a season-defining game against Iowa, head coach Matt Rhule also had some critical things to say about his side.

Matt Rhule gets real about his team’s condition

Nebraska’s collapse began on Penn State’s opening 98-yard drive and continued with successive drives of 82, 75, and 14 yards. Things got so bad that they went two quarters scoreless and only recorded 10 points in the other two. Their head coach describes the situation after the game with a heavy heart.

“And it… feels like an avalanche. Sometimes you go back and look at it, and it’s 10-3 with four minutes left in the half, and then we had what was like a little bit of a collapse, right? They kick the ball off to us.” Matt Rhule said. “You know, we have a mishap; we have a sack. (There’s) the 15-yard penalty on the punter, they score again all of a sudden, the 10-3 becomes 23-3.”

The main issue was Nebraska’s pass defense, as the Huskers just managed four quarterback hurries, and three of those came from the secondary. Even when Nebraska’s defensive coordinator, John Butler, tried dialing up the pressure with defensive backs, the attempts didn’t always work, which ultimately allowed more receivers to get open.

Penn State’s Ethan Grunkemeyer attempted just 12 passes all game but completed all but one for 181 yards with a touchdown. That 15.1 yards per attempt ranked among the best in the Big Ten over the last 30 years, especially with a 90% completion rate. Rhule even took the entire responsibility on himself after the game.

“Yeah, absolutely. Thought we were prepared. I thought we were ready. Put that, you know, put that purely on me,” Rhule said begrudgingly.

Now, that’s something they can’t afford to repeat against Iowa this week. Hence, we can only wait to see if they are able to hold up the game against the Hawkeyes or not.