Reliaquest Bowl

Is Pavia leaving after this year or returning? To be honest I am kind of surprised he is playing and not getting ready for the draft.

The QB class is not the best this year and he has a good chance to go pretty high I would believe if he tests well. Not a very good match-up defensively for the Hawks. If they can force some turnovers they will be okay but if he controls the game it could get ugly.
 


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This will be a contrast in styles for sure. Vandy missed the elite teams in the SEC this year, but saw enough good teams with really talented Ds. But, Iowa plays D in a very different way. Iowa is so sound. We have done just fine against some very good and elite QBs this year. Becht looked OK. We handled Mendoza better than anyone. USC carved us up a bit, but I maintain that was not bad D, just elite WRs doing elite WR things. Vandy aint got that. So, Iowa has faced 3-4 elite QBs and done just fine on D.

On offense, I hope their D is prepared to crash against a brick wall for 60 minutes. I see a lot of scores in their games with 2s and 3s in front of the opponents name. Iowa should be able to run the ball effectively. MG will be as healthy as he has been all year and excited to end an illustrious college career on a high note. Control the clock, make 2-3 splash plays, win the TO battle. I like our chances.
 


Vandy is solid and very well coached.

That said, I've got a bit of a good feeling about this game. Not sure why, just a gut feeling.

Being his last game, I think Grownoski is going to be motivated to show that his passing struggles were uncharacteristic. Same with the WRs. I wouldn't be surprised to see some solid passing results.

I also have a feeling that our two DEs, Hurkett and Llewellyn, have a bad taste in their mouths. Neither lit it up this season. I think they will relish the thought of showing what they can do against Pavia.

This is actually one of the more intriguing bowl match-ups this year. Hopefully, we won't pull another Stanford-type performance but you never know.
 


Anyone going to this game go through the Hawkeye Ticket Office, you have until the 12th to request tickets. They are $80 while Ticketmaster and other sites are at $97 for cheapest. There will not be any cheap seats for this one, I'm sure Vandy fans are buying them up. This is the best bowl game they've ever been too.
 


Fryowa said:
Has 2015 Rose Bowl written all over it.
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Maybe you're right. At the same time, Iowa will score on Vandy. This isn't a team like 2015 where they were exausted and spent from the B1G Championship game. Better teams kept Vandy's scoring in a managable range. I trust vegas' read on this.
 


#1DieHardHawk said:
Vandy is solid and very well coached.

That said, I've got a bit of a good feeling about this game. Not sure why, just a gut feeling.

Being his last game, I think Grownoski is going to be motivated to show that his passing struggles were uncharacteristic. Same with the WRs. I wouldn't be surprised to see some solid passing results.

I also have a feeling that our two DEs, Hurkett and Llewellyn, have a bad taste in their mouths. Neither lit it up this season. I think they will relish the thought of showing what they can do against Pavia.

This is actually one of the more intriguing bowl match-ups this year. Hopefully, we won't pull another Stanford-type performance but you never know.
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Scott Dochterman at the Athletic rated it his top non-playoff bowl game. Of course he was blasted by commenters for being an Iowa homer.
 


Interesting that Pavia is also their leading rusher. We always seem to get burned by running QBs. Hopefully the rest of their backfield sucks.

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Can we get Bob Sanders, Chad Greenway, and Pat Angerer back for one game? If we can pay players millions and transfer more freely than the NFL, then we can time warp our most exciting defenders of all time back for one game. Those 3 would have Pavia shittin' his huggies but I don't know if we have anyone who'd come close to doing that right now.
 


Gander Hawk said:
Scott Dochterman at the Athletic rated it his top non-playoff bowl game. Of course he was blasted by commenters for being an Iowa homer.
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CBS Sports has it their 4th best non playoff bowl. But they do have it ranked after the Pop Tart (BYU vs GTech) and Pinstripe (PSU vs Clemson) which I don't agree with. I'll agree it should be ranked after the Citrus Bowl which is Texas vs Michigan.
 


Fryowa said:
Can we get Bob Sanders, Chad Greenway, and Pat Angerer back for one game? If we can pay players millions and transfer more freely than the NFL, then we can time warp our most exciting defenders of all time back for one game. Those 3 would have Pavia shittin' his huggies but I don't know if we have anyone who'd come close to doing that right now.
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Nwankpa has lit a few people up this year, as has Sharrar. If Pavia is going to pay for taking off and scrambling, those are probably the 2 mostly likely to collect.
 


Nebraska's young QB was not walking straight after the Iowa game. Pavia will find contact in this game. I just hope Parker doesn't wait until we are 10 down before he starts to send bodies at Pavia. This is not a guy you let get comfortable in the pocket.
 


NorthKCHawk said:
Nebraska's young QB was not walking straight after the Iowa game. Pavia will find contact in this game. I just hope Parker doesn't wait until we are 10 down before he starts to send bodies at Pavia. This is not a guy you let get comfortable in the pocket.
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Maybe we go with the D scheme we used vs. Indiana? In that game we blitzed above 50% of the downs on D, and it was definitely effective. It did burn us on the game-winning TD throw, but on balance, that was our best way to defend that offense.
 


Prediction: Vanderbilt 34, Iowa 23 - Adam Rittenberg, ESPN

Iowa hasn't given up that many point all season. The most was against Rutgers (28) in the first conference game. I know Vandy has a good offense but if Iowa gives up that many points I don't think Iowa scores 23 as I think it would take a few turnovers for Vandy to put up 34. I would think Phil would have the defense better prepared then that.
 


I was thinking. If Lester is really excited with Hecklinski's effort and progress, would you be tempted to roll in with a plan to give him the first two series of the second quarter (or whatever)? You give him a few weeks to mentally prepare, and roll in with a package of plays he excels at. Maybe the first series has some roll-outs/short timing patterns. Maybe the second series you have him throw a bunch of slow mesh at Vandy. Obviously the game situation might dictate things, but why not? You have a ton of preparation time. Keep the defense on its heels, unleash your most accurate passer with plays he executes well, give him something to help jump start his off-season prep.
 


SwirlinLingerie said:
I was thinking. If Lester is really excited with Hecklinski's effort and progress, would you be tempted to roll in with a plan to give him the first two series of the second quarter (or whatever)? You give him a few weeks to mentally prepare, and roll in with a package of plays he excels at. Maybe the first series has some roll-outs/short timing patterns. Maybe the second series you have him throw a bunch of slow mesh at Vandy. Obviously the game situation might dictate things, but why not? You have a ton of preparation time. Keep the defense on its heels, unleash your most accurate passer with plays he executes well, give him something to help jump start his off-season prep.
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I love the idea. Unfortunately, KF is not going to be on board with your thinking. Too bad.
 


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