Georgia Tech and Iowa Make Orange Bowl Sweet

in Bowl Season by Asher Feldman — December 11, 2009 at 8:30 pm | 1 comment

Iowa Hawkeyes (10-2) vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (11-2)

Many might take this matchup between the ACC champion Yellow Jackets and the Big 10 runner-up Iowa Hawkeyes as the forgotten BCS bowl, but there is certainly a lot to be interested about in this match up.

For a while there, it looked like Iowa was the class of the Big 10, as the Hawkeyes crept into the BCS top-five during a string of close victories earlier in the season. However, the Hawkeyes were unable to complete an undefeated season, falling to Northwestern and Ohio State down the stretch to finish second in the conference.

The Hawkeyes also had lost their quarterback Ricky Stanzi along the way, but he will return for the bowl.

For the Yellow Jackets, the ACC seemed a cinch after losing to Miami to open their ACC schedule, and after holding off a scare from Clemson in the ACC Championship Game, Georgia Tech claimed the conference’s automatic BCS bowl bid.

Offense: Yellow Jacket quarterback Josh Nesbitt runs the triple option unlike any other quarterback in the nation, and the confusing offense scheme has done wonders for the Tech offense this season, as they finished the season with the 11th best scoring offense in the nation. Running back Jonathan Dwyer, who rushed for 1,346 yards on the season, also contributes to the offensive firepower that the ACC had to deal with this season.

The Iowa offense, although not nearly as flashy as the Yellow Jacket attack, was still very productive on the season, and was especially good at driving late in games under the watch of Stanzi for game winning drives. The Hawkeyes never really plastered any opponent this season, but in their victories Stanzi and the offense did just enough to pull out wins.

Defense: Iowa’s main task here will be how they can react to the Georgia Tech triple-option. So far this season when its working, the triple option has been nearly unstoppable as Paul Johnson’s scheme has been run to perfection at times under the watch of Nesbitt. However, the Iowa defense was tenth nationally in scoring defense, giving up just 10.5 points per game, which the Yellow Jackets cannot hope to score if they want to win this game.

Georgia Tech’s defense will have the opportunity to take advantage of the sometimes reckless Stanzi, who threw plenty of interceptions to go along with his game-winning drives this season. Iowa wide receivers Marvin McNutt and Derrell Johnson-Koulianos must be stopped if the Yellow Jackets hope to contain the Hawkeye offense. Both receivers had more than 650 yards on the season and both are capable of breaking big plays down the field.

Prediction: Georgia Tech 33 vs. Iowa 17. Iowa’s offense always needed extra help from their defense in order to win earlier this season, and this time the defense is faced with a completely foreign offensive package that even an entire month of preparation can not completely prepare for. Nesbitt and the Yellow Jackets will run away with this one early, and forced to throw the rest of the game, the rusty Stanzi will likely make mistakes.

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Tags: atlantic coast conference bcs bowls big 10 conference derrell johnson-koulianos featured jonathan dwyer josh nesbitt marvin mcnutt orange bowl paul johnson prediction preview Ricky Stanzi