IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -No. 10 Iowa earned its berth in the Orange Bowl on the strength of tough and opportunistic defense. The Hawkeyes’ offense often did just enough to keep from holding the team back.
Iowa (10-2) beat Arizona, Penn State and Wisconsin on its way to earning the school’s second BCS bowl bid, but the Hawkeyes’ languid attack left them frequently playing from behind or scrapping to get by.
Iowa scored 23.1 points a game this season, including 20 or less in four of its final six contests, and won nearly half its games by three points or less.
That type of output might not cut it in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 5 against No. 9 Georgia Tech (11-2) and its potent triple-option offense.
The Hawkeyes had a knack for making big plays in key spots, such as the TD pass from Ricky Stanzi to Marvin McNutt to beat Michigan State 15-13 on the last play of the game.
just a few clutch plays.
“The only key is execution. That’s the same thing that has been our issue, or our good thing, throughout the season,” said Stanzi, who missed the last two games of the regular season with a sprained ankle.
Iowa’s biggest issue on offense has been health. About half of its starters missed multiple games with injuries.
The Hawkeyes should be healthy by the Orange Bowl. That includes Stanzi, who has been practicing at full speed for the past few weeks. But for all the buzz surrounding Stanzi’s health, freshman Adam Robinson’s return might be as crucial the Hawkeyes.
Robinson, a redshirt freshman who wasn’t even listed on the depth chart in spring practice, emerged as Iowa’s most reliable back by the end of September. Robinson finished with 775 yards rushing – an Iowa freshman record – despite missing two games with an sprained ankle.
The Hawkeyes missed Robinson dearly in those games, against Indiana and Northwestern.
Iowa needed a furious 28-point rally in the fourth quarter to dispose of the Hoosiers. But with Stanzi and Robinson out against the Wildcats, Iowa managed a season-low 10 points and lost for the first time.
aggravated his ankle sprain and missed the rest of the game.
Iowa scored three points after Robinson went out in an ugly 12-0 win.
The Hawkeyes won’t stray from its balanced offensive philosophy. The return of Robinson, who is more effective at sustaining drives than fellow freshman Brandon Wegher, should vastly improve Iowa’s chances of establishing the running game and opening up play-action passes for Stanzi.
“We’ve got some very good running backs back there who have proven themselves, who are very young,” Stanzi said. “Having a good running game is just important overall to our style of offense.”
The rash of injuries on offense also made continuity a major issue week after week. But after sputtering to the finish by scraping by the Gophers, Iowa will have had over a month to get healthy and prepared for a Georgia Tech that features All-American defensive end Derrick Morgan, but has generally struggled to stop opponents.
The Hawkeyes are hoping that’ll be more than enough time for its offense to play its best game of the season.
“It’s going to be a little bit of everything. Health, and this month is going to be just huge. We just need to get our timing down, get better individually,” tight end Tony Moeaki said. “I think it’s a matter of everyone being on the same page.”
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