Friday’s loss at Iowa represented Nebraska’s season in microcosm.

The Cornhuskers looked fairly bad for long stretches as the Hawkeyes led 28-13 through three quarters at Kinnick Stadium.

But, much like Nebraska rallied in the second half of the season, Big Red roared back in the fourth quarter of its season finale to tie the score at 28-28.

But both in the game and the season, Nebraska came up short. Iowa’s field goal as time expired won the game 31-28 and doomed the Cornhuskers to their second consecutive 4-8 season — far from the standard expected in Lincoln.

Here are 5 signs from the Iowa game that the Cornhuskers are a long way from where their fans and new coaching staff want them to be:

Defense whiffing on basics

Iowa’s middle-of-the-pack, fairly bland offense gained 419 yards on Nebraska. Much of it was because Nebraska’s defensive players failed to execute basics. Missed angles, poor tackling and overpursuit were common faults for the Cornhuskers. Which leads us to…

Untouched touchdowns

Iowa’s Toren Young and Mekhi Sargent ran for touchdowns with no resistance in the first half. It’s one thing if an offense has a play schemed up perfectly, or runs something a defense has not seen before, or if an individual breaks a few tackles. But those two touchdowns were nothing fancy, and they could not have come any more easily for the Hawkeyes.

Failure to get off field

If it seems like we’re picking on the defense here, it’s because we are. Iowa had 5.9 yards per carry; only three Nebraska opponents had better averages this season. The Hawkeyes converted 7-of-13 third-down conversions and also succeeded on 2-of-3 fourth-down tries. It’s little wonder that Iowa held the ball for 34:41 in the game including 20:49 time of possession in the first half.

O-line inconsistency

Nebraska has one of the most dynamic players in the Big Ten in freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez. He would be even better with a bit more help up front. Iowa sacked Martinez three times, bringing Big Red’s season total to 28 sacks allowed. That’s too many considering how elusive Martinez is; how many near sacks did he escape this season?

Too little depth out wide

Wide receiver J.D. Spielman missed the past two games with an injury, and Nebraska really missed him. Martinez found tight end Jack Stoll and young receiver Kade Warner four times each against the Hawkeyes and running back Mo Washington had seven catches. But overall, the Cornhuskers’ lack of depth at wide receiver was exposed; that is a big offseason need with senior Stanley Morgan departing.