Iowa's Ekakitie: Nebraska player hurled racial slurs at me

IOWA CITY, Iowa - An Iowa football player has said a Nebraska player slung racial slurs at him 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.

Asked Saturday by The Associated Press about Ekakitie's allegation, Nebraska football spokesman Keith Mann sent one-sentence written statement saying the Nebraska athletic department and team officials are aware of Ekakitie's comments. Mann did not respond to follow-up questions asking whether team officials had spoken to Nebraska players about the allegations or whether Nebraska plans to investigate.

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.