Stop me if this sounds like a broken record. This bowl game featured a 'supposedly' slow Big 10 team. Their opponent was the 'speedy ACC champion G'Tech' with an unstoppable offense. The Big 10 offense and defense dominate the line of scrimmage and impose their will on their opponent. Big 10 team can't put the game away and lets their opponents hang around. After a lot of chewed off nails, Big 10 team pulls off the win. It seems like this was the recurring theme in the Wisconsin-Miami , OSU - Oregon, PSU - LSU and finally in the Orange Bowl again today.
Iowa came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders. Ricky Stanzi their QB threw 2 gorgeous jump balls on fade routes to score 2 TD's while their defense was repeatedly forcing 3-and-outs for the Ga'Tech offense. This was after their star WR Marvin McNutt had fumbled the ball in the first possession.
Iowa got a bit ahead of themselves though as on their 3rd possession, Ricky Stanzi threw a terrible pick 6 putting Ga'Tech on the scoreboard. Their defense pitched a first half shutout and the score was 14-7 at the half. The Yellow Jackets had 32 yards of total offense at that time.
Ga'Tech got the ball to begin with in the second half and their coach Paul Johnson was determined to take the ball out of John Nesbitt's hands and put it in the hands of RB Jonathan Dwyer. Ga'Tech marched all the way down the field but the drive stalled on the Iowa 16 yard line and Paul Johnson decided to kick the FG only to see his kicker miss from 33 yards. On the subsequent possession, Iowa was able to move the ball well and kick a FG to go up 17-7.
The Yellow Jackets moved the ball well again and opened the 4th quarter with their only offensive score of the night - a 1 yard rushing TD from RB Anthony Allen. With the clock becoming a factor and Ga'Tech backed up deep in their own half, they decided to come out throwing the ball and that was not their strong suit. Nesbitt was intercepted and Iowa's offense scrimmaged now on the Ga'Tech 15. A personal foul later, Iowa had 1st and goal on the 7 yard line but could only move the ball 4 yards on 3 plays. KIrk Ferentz sent the FG unit out - and went for the fake. The move backfired and Ga'Tech did not pay a penalty for the INT.
But the Iowa D which had been dominant the whole evening again asserted itself. On the ensuing Ga'Tech possession, they almost forced a safety, pushing the Ga'Tech running back 12 yards and with just under 5 min left, they had to punt.
Iowa came out with the intention of running out the clock, running on 1st and 2nd down and throwing on 3rd down to keep the drive moving. Ga'Tech had to gamble big to stop the run and get the ball back and stacked the box with no deep safety. The Iowa O line opened up a hole for RB Wegher who rushed 32 yards for a TD and that put the game beyond doubt.
Game ball definitely went to Norm Parker and the Iowa D who came with a gr8 plan to stop the much vaunted, 'unstoppable' triple option. Adrian Clayborn, their gr8 DT was just a man amongst boys often taking the dive play and the QB at the same time. Corners took the pitch away and Clayborn took the dive play away, often forcing Nesbitt to rush leaving the linebackers free to tackle him for short or no gain.
With this win, the Big 10 ends the Bowl season 4-3 but more importantly, with 2 BCS wins. The top 4 team, OSU, Iowa, PSU and Wisconsin all beat quality opponents in Oregon, LSU, Miami and Ga'Tech. 2 of those teams, Oregon and Ga'Tech were their respective conference champs.
