Tennessee football is headed to Orlando to face No. 17 Iowa in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. After being projected to land in the Gator or ReliaQuest Bowl in recent weeks, the Vols moved into the Citrus Bowl after three SEC teams landed in New Years Six Bowls.
With LSU playing in the Citrus Bowl last season, they moved to the ReliaQuest Bowl and Tennessee moved all the way up to the Citrus Bowl.
Here’s a quick look at the Iowa Hawkeyes ahead of the bowl game matchup.
How Iowa Got Here
Iowa enters the Citrus Bowl 10-3 (7-2 Big) and the winner of the Big 10 west. The Hawkeyes fell to Michigan, 26-0, in the Big 1o Championship game on Saturday night as their offense’s struggles this season continued.
The Hawkeyes didn’t win 10 games in pretty fashion this season but remarkably totaled double-digit wins by winning five one possession games and playing strong defense.
Iowa’s losses game against Penn State, Minnesota and Michigan. Both Penn State and Michigan beat the Hawkeyes by 30-plus points while the Golden Gophers edged out Iowa 12-10.
Kirk Ferentz’ 25th Iowa team’s best wins are over Iowa State, Wisconsin and Rutgers.
What They Do Well
All the stereotypes about this Iowa team are true. They don’t do much of anything well offensively but are solid all across the board defensively.
The Hawkeyes are particularly sound defensively and particularly against the run where they boast one of the nation’s best run defenses and allow only 102 rushing yards per game. That presents an interesting matchup against a Tennessee offense that relies on moving the football with its between the tackles rushing attack.
While Iowa’s run defense leads the way, its pass defense is strong too thanks to a productive secondary that’s done a good job of limiting big plays all season. The Hawkeyes are allowing just 172 passing yards per game.
I wouldn’t even go as far as saying Iowa runs the ball well but that’s what they do best on the offensive end.
Iowa is also good at punting, averaging 47 yards per punt this season.
What They Do Poorly
Basically everything on the offensive side of the ball. Iowa averages just 16.6 points per game, a mark that ranks 127th out of 130 teams nationally and fell well shy of the mark offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz had to hit to keep his job.
Iowa’s passing attack is particularly putrid averaging 123 yards per game (127th nationally) and totaling just 1,601 yards this season. The Hawkeyes have been pretty bad protecting the passer this season too, earning a 62.9 team pass block grade on PFF.
On the other side, Iowa’s pass rush is by no means bad but it is the defense’s weakness.
Team Stats (via Sports Reference)
Individual Stat Leaders
Passing
Deacon Hill (9 starts) — 115-of-233 (49.4%), 1,096 yards, 5 touchdowns, 6 interceptions
Rushing
Leshon Williams — 164 carries, 804 yards, 1 touchdown
Kaleb Johnson — 110 carries, 429 yards, 3 touchdowns
Jaziun Patterson — 56 carries, 199 yards, 2 touchdowns
Receiving
TE Erick All — 21 receptions, 299 yards, 3 touchdowns
WR Nico Ragaini — 29 receptions, 252 yards
TE Addison Ostrenga — 29 receptions, 178 yards, 2 touchdowns
WR Kaleb Brown — 19 receptions, 176 yards, 1 touchdown
Tackles
LB Jay Higgins — 155 tackles
LB Nick Jackson — 99 tackles
DB Sebastian Castro — 61 tackles
DB Quinn Schulte — 60 tackles
Sacks
DE Joe Evans — 5.5 sacks
LB Nick Jackson — 4 sacks
DT Yahya Black — 3.5 sacks
DL Deontae Craig — 3 sacks
DL Logan Lee — 3 sacks
Interceptions
DB Sebastian Castro — 3 interceptions
DB Cooper DeJean — 2 interceptions
One Response
Michigan only beat Iows by 26 not 30