Iowa Football: Nothing Goes Right For Hawkeyes In Outback Bowl

A 30-3 loss to Florida in the Outback Bowl extends Iowa’s bowl losing streak to five games

Low-scoring, close and defensive battle are how many imagined the Outback Bowl between Iowa football and the Florida Gators would go. For the first half that’s what it was, but then Florida rattled off 20 points in the second half to beat Iowa 30-3 in a game that rivals the embarrassment of last year’s Rose Bowl.

Florida came into the game ranked 17th in the nation and as a three-point favorite. Plus, the game is in Tampa, Florida, therefore, even though Iowa’s fans travels well, Florida still had the obvious home field advantage.

Evidently, it wasn’t just the home field advantage that stopped Iowa. The Hawkeyes simply didn’t come to play. From the coaches to the players, Iowa was out-played and made people wonder where the team that ended the regular season with three straight wins went.

Iowa’s defense could not have started any better. They intercepted Austin Appleby on each of Florida’s first two offensive possessions.

A tipped pass by Joshua Jackson led to a Brandon Snyder interception and Desmond King leaped over a Florida receiver to make an acrobatic interception and give Iowa starting field position at the 27-yard line.

kevinmcguire: That Desmond King INT... #OutbackBowl ABC Outback Bowl: Florida vs. Iowa https://t.co/JrctG5FFEb pic.twitter.com/9bZ51lC5TJ
— FanSportsClips (@FanSportsClips) January 2, 2017

Iowa only gained nine yards on four plays, though, which led to their only points of the game — a Keith Duncan 36-yard field-goal.

Despite their hot start to the game, their defense still let receivers get behind them and gave up a 16-yard pass to Tyrie Cleveland on Florida’s first drive. Even though Appleby had two interceptions in the first five minutes of the game, he didn’t look terrible.

Poor coverage led to Florida converting key third downs and then Iowa forgetting how to tackle. Four missed tackles led to an 85-yard screen pass touchdown to Mark Thompson to give Florida a 10-3 lead late in the first half.

In what gave everyone flashbacks of Christian McCaffrey running over an Iowa defense last year, Florida did the same thing.

Iowa continued to miss tackles all game and it led to Florida gaining 109 rushing yards and Jordan Scarlett averaging 6.7 yards per carry. Iowa’s run defense started out strong but continued to give up bigger and bigger runs as the afternoon continued.

Iowa had their chances to get back in the game, though. Outside of two interceptions early in the game, they also had a fourth and goal on Florida’s one-yard line. Instead of trying to run a bootleg or calling a QB sneak, Greg Davis called what everyone was thinking — LeShun Daniels Jr run up the middle.

Florida sniffed it out and loaded the box. At the time, it kept the game tied 3-3, but the momentum shifted on both sides of the ball after that play.

Iowa also held the ball for 7:25 to start the half. They drove 63 yards on 13 plays and looked like they found rhythm on offense. Florida ended up stopping Iowa but a missed 30-yard field goal by Keith Duncan kept the game at 10-3.

Florida then went on to score another touchdown on third and goal from the six, despite two penalties that pushed Florida back 10 yards. Although, just like the rest of the game, Iowa didn’t capitalize on opportunities.