Iowa Football: Hawkeyes Meet Florida Gators In Outback Bowl

The Iowa Hawkeyes will play in the Outback Bowl vs the Florida Gators

For the 10th time under Kirk Ferentz, Iowa football will play in a January bowl game.

This year, the Iowa Hawkeyes will meet the SEC runner-up in the Florida Gators on January 2 at noon on ESPN in the Outback Bowl. The Outback Bowl is in Tampa, Florida.

Since Ferentz took over in 1999, this is the fifth time Iowa is playing in the Outback Bowl. They are 2-2 in this particular bowl under Ferentz, and most recently lost 21-14 in 2013 to the LSU Tigers.

Iowa finished the season 8-4 and on a three game winning streak, which included two wins over ranked teams in Michigan and Nebraska. The Hawkeyes own the 75th ranked scoring offense and 11th best scoring defense in the nation.

Their opponent, the Florida Gators, also finished the season 8-4. They finished 20th in the AP Poll, while Iowa finished 21st, after losing to Alabama 54-16 in the SEC Championship Game.

The Gators are currently on a two game losing streak, however own the 114th best scoring offense and seventh best scoring defense in the nation.

The Gators only topped 30 points three times this season and haven’t scored more than 25 points in any of their past six games. It’s an expected low-scoring bowl game, although we’ll have more coverage on the bowl game as we inch closer to it.

The Iowa Hawkeyes didn’t win the Big Ten West or make a New Year’s Six Bowl like many hoped for at the start of the season. However, the Outback Bowl is a respectable bowl game, and one not many people envisioned just a couple of weeks ago.