Iowa Football: Preview, How To Watch Outback Bowl
By Jeremy Karll
A preview and how to watch the 2017 Outback Bowl
It’s been over a month since Iowa football last took the field and defeated Nebraska 40-10. The Hawkeyes and Florida Gators each enter the long-awaited Outback Bowl 8-4, but the 17th ranked Gators are a slight three-point favorite.
Everyone is expecting this to be one of the lowest-scoring bowl games this season. Both teams gave up 215 points in 12 games this season, and both have two of the top cornerback prospects in this year’s NFL Draft in Desmond King and Teez Tabor.
Here’s how you can watch the 2017 Outback Bowl:
Where: Tampa, Florida
Date: January 2, 2017
Time: 12:00 p.m. CT
TV: ABC
While the game is still a couple of hours away from Gainesville, Florida, where the Gators reside, it will still have a home game feel to it for them. They’re in their home state where they know the weather better and their fans simply have a shorter distance to travel.
That said, Iowa has many seniors who want to end their collegiate career with a win. C.J. Beathard is one of the winningest quarterbacks in Iowa history, while King, Jaleel Johnson, Riley McCarron and LeShun Daniels Jr all want to leave one last mark.
It will likely come down to which team has the ball last or has a costly turnover. Points won’t be easy to come by for either team, therefore red zone turnovers or turnovers deep in their own territory could be the difference in this game.
If Iowa can establish a ground game with Daniels and Akrum Wadley, who have a chance to be the first 1,000 yard rushing duo in Iowa history, they will have a good chance of winning this game. That said, Florida will be focused on trying to stop the run. They want to put pressure on C.J. Beathard and force Iowa’s receivers to make plays.
Defensively, the Hawkeyes have to put pressure on the Austin Appleby. He didn’t have turnover problems in the regular season, however, Alabama made him uncomfortable in the pocket in the SEC Championship Game which led to three interceptions.
Even with a banged-up secondary, Iowa has the talent to intercept passes. They’ll need to create turnovers because that’s usually how their offense gets going when they have slow starts.
Iowa should have all the momentum after ending the regular season on a three-game winning streak, which included two wins against ranked teams, but it’s hard to tell how momentum will transfer to bowl games.
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Due to the long layoff, it’s like the opening weekend in a way. Iowa hasn’t played for over a month, therefore momentum doesn’t always carry over. If it does, or if Iowa plays confident like they did at the end of the regular season, they should win.