Nebraska to look into allegations made by Iowa's Faith Ekakitie

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The Nebraska athletic department says it is conducting an investigation into an allegation that a Nebraska football player slung racial slurs at an Iowa football player as the Big Ten rivals played in Iowa City on Friday.

Iowa defensive tackle Faith Ekakitie said he was the target of racial slurs from a Nebraska offensive lineman whom Ekakitie declined to name during postgame interviews Friday evening, the Des Moines Register reported.

Nebraska Athletics said in a statement Saturday night that it has reached out to Iowa to ascertain the facts regarding the allegation.

"In addition, we are conducting our own internal review of the matter. Regardless of the outcome of our review, Nebraska Athletics does not condone such conduct of any kind, at any time, by anyone associated with our athletics program," the statement said.

An Iowa team spokesman said Saturday that Hawkeye officials had no comment on Ekakitie's assertion.

The 6-foot-3, 290-pound Ekakitie is a native of Brampton, Ontario, and went to high school in Lake Forest, Illinois. He finished with five tackles in Iowa's 40-10 win over Nebraska.

Ekakitie said it was the first time he had been targeted by racial slurs while playing.

"Anyone that is willing to openly go out of their way and throw that around -- even in a competitive environment -- I think you're a piece of trash," he said.