Iowa Football: Outback Bowl Provides Defensive Back Showdown

The Outback Bowl has one of the most intriguing matchups of the bowl season, but the two players will never be on the field together

The Outback Bowl is always one of the better non-New Year’s Six bowl games, and this year is no different. Iowa football will take on the Florida Gators this year in a game that will feature two of the best defenses in the nation.

This season, both teams rank outside the top 70 in scoring offense but in the top 15 of scoring defense. Most people are expecting it to be a low-scoring game that a defensive play will decide, and that is a very good possibility considering the cornerbacks in this game.

Iowa’s Desmond King and Florida’s Teez Tabor, who officially changed his name from Jalen this season, are two of the top defensive back prospects in the 2017 NFL Draft. Both are probable first round picks this year, which means, barring a huge surprise by Tabor, this will be each of their last game in college.

According to WalterFootball, Tabor and King are the fourth and fifth best cornerbacks, respectively, in the this year’s draft.

After a record-setting season a year ago, King had a productive senior season. He recorded 52 tackles and intercepted a team-high two passes.

Tabor recorded a team-high three interceptions, which is one fewer than last season, and also racked up 32 tackles.

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There will be plenty of NFL talent on the field come January 2 in Tampa, Florida, but the key matchup will be on two players who will never be on the field at the same time. King and Tabor are both nightmare matchups for opposing teams and force most quarterbacks to look towards the other side of the field.

Even with each of them owning massive reputations as the best defensive back in their respective conference, Iowa and Florida won’t shy away from testing them.

For one, 47.8 percent of Florida’s offensive plays this season were passes. Sure, they’re known for spreading it around the field, as the have three players with 30-plus catches and four with at least 20 receptions, but neither Luke Del Rio, who is battling a shoulder injury and might not play, or Austin Appleby are scared of taking risks.

They combined to throw 13 interceptions this season, including at least one in eight games.

Therefore, as tight of coverage as King plays, Florida wants to take chances, especially in the last game of the season. Besides, more than a couple of Florida’s 32.1 pass attempts will go in King’s direction or else the Gators will really struggle on offense by minimizing the field.

Winning a bowl game is important, but it’s also the last game of the season and a loss has no catastrophic consequences, such as dropping in the rankings or division. The only consequence is ending the season with a loss.

It’s why trick plays are more common and teams take more risks during bowl season. Every team wants to leave everything on the field.

That will be the mindset of the Iowa Hawkeyes, too. Teez Tabor is an extraordinary talent, but Iowa doesn’t have the receiving core or offense to allow him to take away half of the field.

Riley McCarron‘s 41 receptions is the Hawkeyes only receiver this season with more than 25 receptions, and C.J. Beathard only completes 58.6 percent of passes as it is. Plus, Florida will be game planning to stop Akrum Wadley and LeShun Daniels Jr with their run defense that allows just 3.8 yards per carry.

Iowa won’t turn into the pass-first team they became at the start of the season, however the Hawkeyes will have to air it out to give Wadley and Daniels room to work.