Orange Bowl

2010

Iowa 24

Georgia Tech 14

Iowa Fight Song

By Andy Hamilton

Iowa City Press-Citizen

January 5, 2010

MIAMI- Kirk Ferentz walked off the field that day in early September wondering how Iowa won its first game and pondering whether the Hawkeyes would win another.

He left Land Shark Stadium Tuesday night with frozen Gatorade in his hair, a month’s supply of oranges crammed into the giant trophy too big for his arms and a team at his side that posted Iowa’s most prestigious bowl victory in 51 years and matched a school record for wins.

Not a bad ending for a team that nearly caused a crisis in Hawkdom when it needed two blocked field goals in the closing seconds to beat Northern Iowa in the season opener.

No. 10 Iowa (11-2) suffocated ninth-ranked Georgia Tech 24-14 in the Orange Bowl, locking down the Yellow Jackets' potent offense and leading from start to finish in front of 66,131 and national television audience.

Ricky Stanzi threw two touchdowns in his first game back from an ankle sprain and freshman Brandon Wegher iced the coldest game in Orange Bowl history with a 32-yard touchdown run. But Tuesday was all about Iowa’s defensive dominance.

The Hawkeyes held Georgia Tech (11-3) to 173 yards- 269 fewer than its season average- and only 12 yards passing. The Yellow Jackets managed just one first down in the first half.

“We’ve really been kicking the crap out of our scout team for a month and half now,” Iowa linebacker Pat Angerer said. “We’ve seen every play they can run times 10. That’s what I thought was going to happen and that’s what did happen. We knew they were going to get some big runs on us, which they did, but when it mattered, our front seven outplayed them.”

Georgia Tech came to Miami with gaudy statistics generated by its unconventional offense. The flexbone made the Yellow Jackets so productive they rarely needed a punter. Georgia Tech entered the game with a string of 22 straight possessions and two full games without a punt.

What’s more, the Yellow Jackets, fueled by the fewest three-and-out possessions in major college football, led the nation in time of possession. But the first half for Georgia Tech was a repetitive pattern of three plays and punt.

“We’ve been looking at film of how other defenses were attacking them and kind of using some of that and using some of our defense,” said Iowa defensive end Adrian Clayborn, who had nine tackles, two sacks and won the game’s most valuable player award. “I would’ve never imagined (Georgia Tech’s first-half struggles), but I’m glad we did it.”

The Yellow Jackets went three-and-out on five of their first six drives and didn’t register a first down until midway through the second quarter. Iowa outgained Georgia Tech 257-32 in the first half.

“We just never had any consistency on offense. We had a hard time blocking them inside and it made it tough to run on the perimeter,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said. “We could never hit a big play with our passing game. It’s hard to get any consistency when we weren’t out there that much. We were struggling.

“They’re a very good defense. They had a good plan and we had a hard time blocking them.”

Still, the Hawkeyes were clinging to a 14-7 lead at halftime because of their recklessness with the football. Iowa turned the ball over twice on its first four possessions. The Hawkeyes scored touchdowns on their other two.

Stanzi completed his first eight passes, hitting Marvin McNutt for a 4-yard touchdown (video) and Colin Sandeman for a 21-yard score (video), both times victimizing cornerback Jerrad Tarrant.

But Tarrant picked off Stanzi’s ninth pass and ran it back 40 yards for a touchdown (video).

Georgia Tech got its offense going in the second half and trimmed Iowa’s lead to 17-14 early in the fourth quarter when Anthony Allen scored on a 1-yard run to cap an 11-play, 71-yard drive.

But the Hawkeyes never let the Yellow Jackets past their own 15 again until after Wegher broke free for his eighth touchdown run of the season- an Iowa record for a freshman- with 1:56 left to give the Hawkeyes a couple minutes of comfort during a season that tested their nerves (video).

Iowa’s season started with turbulence. The Hawkeyes needed a pair of blocked field goals in the last seven seconds to beat Northern Iowa in the opener. It was a win that caused Ferentz to wonder about where the season was headed, but it also galvanized his team and led the Hawkeyes to believe they had the mettle to survive close games.

Iowa got plenty of practice in tight situations throughout the season. The Hawkeyes opened the season 9-0 for the first time in program history, but they had to come from behind in eight of those wins. They rallied at Penn State and Wisconsin, won on the last play at Michigan State, rode a 28-point fourth quarter to a comeback against Indiana and stayed unbeaten until Stanzi went down with a sprained ankle Nov. 7 against Northwestern.

Stanzi completed 17-of-29 passing for 231 yards in his return and the Hawkeyes went back to winning ways.

Iowa hadn’t won a bowl game of this ilk since the Hawkeyes won the Rose Bowl in 1959.

“You flash back to our first ballgame,” Ferentz said, “coming off the field I don’t think anybody envisioned us sitting here tonight with our 11th win.”

Iowa's Ricky Stanzi.

Brandon Wegher was a freshman hero.

The Iowa defense held the Tech offense in check.

Attendance: 66,131

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

IOWA- McNutt 3 yard pass from Stanzi (Murray kick)

IOWA- Sandeman 21 yard pass from Stanzi (Murray kick)

GT- Tarrant 40 yard interception return (Blair kick)

Third Quarter

IOWA- FG Murray 33

Fourth Quarter

GT- Allen 1 run (Blair Kick)

IOWA- Wegher 32 run (Murray kick)

Individual Statistics

Rushing

IOWA- Wegher 16-113, Robinson 14-59, Stanzi 6-10

GT- Dwyer 14-49, Nesbitt 20-46, Peeples 3-27, Allen 3-21

Passing

IOWA- Stanzi 17-29-231

GT- Nesbitt 2-9-12

Receiving

IOWA- Moeaki 4-85, Johnson-Koulianos 4-63, Sandeman 4-53, McNutt 4-21

GT- Dwyer 2-12

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