One program is known for having a prolific offense. One program is known for having no offense.
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There will be a stark contrast on one side of the ball when No. 21 Tennessee and No. 17 Iowa meet in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. EST and will be televised on ABC.
Tennessee (8-4) is making its sixth Citrus Bowl appearance and first since 2002. The Vols became infamously associated with the bowl when former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier said, “you can’t spell Citrus without U-T” as an insult to the program.
It’s the fourth time Tennessee and Iowa (10-3) will meet. The Vols have a 2-1 record against the Hawkeyes, including a 45-28 victory in the 2015 Gator Bowl.
It will be a bit of a homecoming for UT head coach Josh Heupel, who coached at the University of Central Florida in Orlando before taking over the Vols.
“Excited about being in Orlando, playing in this football game. It goes without saying that we understand the quality of the that we are facing in Iowa,” Heupel says. “It’s a proud football program. Coach (Kirk) Ferentz has done an unbelievable job over his tenure there.”
Iowa won the Big Ten Conference East division title this season before falling to No 1 Michigan 26-0 last weekend in the Big Ten Championship game.
A tale of two units
The Hawkeyes ranked last in the country in the FBS in yards per game (240), which is 30 yards per game worse than the next team. They are 130th out of 133 teams in points per game (16.6), and fourth worst in passing offense (123.2). Iowa failed to score more than 10 points four times and twice lost in shutouts.
Iowa’s Most Valuable Player is likely punter Tory Taylor. The Australian has a 46.0 career yard average on 281 punts for 12,944 yards with 94 going 50 more yards. The punts and yards are both school records.
Offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, the son of the head coach, won’t be returning after this season. Long under fire for his underwhelming offense, Brian Ferentz started the season with a clause in his employment contract that required the Hawkeyes to average 25 points per game over a 13-game season in order to secure his return in 2024.
Iowa didn’t come close to meeting the standard, and interim athletic director Beth Goetz didn’t even need to wait until the season ended to announce the impending change.
Conversely, the Hawkeyes have one of college football’s best defenses. The Hawkeyes have the No. 9 pass defense and didn’t allow an opponent to pass for 250 yards in a game this season. Linebacker Jay Higgins ranks third in the FBS by averaging 11.9 tackles per game, including 14 in the Big Ten title game loss to top-ranked Michigan.
Heupel expects his offense to face a stiff challenge.
“They make you earn it. They are not going to give you anything,” Heupel says. “You have to go out there and take things and earn it. They don’t make mistakes. They play with great discipline and fundamentals.”
The Vols don’t have as prolific of an offense this season as they did last season. But they are still capable of scoring in bunches if everything is clicking.
Tennessee finished the regular season ranked in the top 25 nationally in eight different team categories, including total offense (18th, 453.5 yards) and rushing offense (12th, 202.6 yards).
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz knows his defense will need to be ready.
“We certainly haven’t seen them this year, but I know the work that Josh has done obviously at Tennessee and Central (Florida) before that, just outstanding,” he says. “We saw (film) on Tennessee the last two years against Kentucky (because) we played Kentucky two straight years. We do have some familiarity but certainly weren’t looking at them from a game planning standpoint.”
Who’ll be in uniform?
As has become the norm in recent seasons, which players actually participate in the bowl will be a question.
More players have started to skip bowl games to avoid injury and begin preparing for the NFL Draft. Quarterback Joe Milton, defensive end Tyler Baron and running back Jaylen Wright are among the UT’s top NFL prospects.
“Last year, we had a good bulk of guys that were going to be in the draft that ultimately participated in the Orange Bowl,” Heupel says. “This is a great game against a great opponent. We certainly hope that we get the bulk of our guys that are going to help us go be ready to play on Jan. 1.”
Heupel joins Phillip Fulmer and Bill Battle as the only coaches in UT history to lead the Vols to bowl berths in each of his first three seasons. Stretching the streak to four will partly be determined by the weeks ahead.
As the UT staff juggles bowl preparation, it will be monitoring the transfer portal, which opened this week, and solidifying the 2024 class before early signing day arrives Dec. 20.