The two big stories of the Orange Bowl were Iowa's absolutely dominating defense led by Clayborn and the rust-free return of quarterback Ricky Stanzi. Overlooked was another fantastic performance by Tony Moeaki.
Moeaki finished the game with 4 receptions for a team high 85 yards (DJK, McNutt, and Sandeman also had 4 catches each). He was on the receiving end of the longest play of a game...a 54-yard catch and run off of play-action that set up the touchdown giving Iowa an early 7-0 lead. Moeaki also had another big catch that gained 23 yards on 2nd and 20 in the third quarter. The play was a huge momentum swinger as the Hawks had just been flagged for holding and it looked like Georgia Tech would get the ball back just when the offense was starting to click. Instead Moeaki made a fantastic catch and Iowa finished the drive with a field goal that turned out to be the game winning score.
Of course, Moeaki did a lot more than just catch the ball though. On Tuesday night he did an absolutely great job of sealing the edge blocking on many run plays. He also acted as the lead blocker motioning from his TE spot to more of a fullback position.
Moeaki finished his career at Iowa with many ups and downs that have been well chronicled. He has been injured in about every way possible and it seems like he's sat out more games than he's played. But, his presence as a de facto 3rd offensive tackle of running plays will be missed, especially with the departure of Bulaga, Richardson, Calloway, and Eubanks. His sure hands on 3rd down will not easily be replaced. He was truly a great TE and at the end of the day he had a fine career at Iowa and one good enough that he should be playing somewhere on Sundays next year.
Archive page 88
Bryan Bulaga is Going Pro
As expected pretty much the whole year (except for when there were some crazy rumors flying around when he was hospitalized) junior left tackle Bryan Bulaga is going to forgo his senior year at Iowa to enter the NFL draft. Bulaga had a great career as a Hawkeye earning a spot along the line as a true freshman. This year, despite missing 3 games he earned All Big Ten honors and was named the Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year. He also capped off his college with an outstanding performance in the Orange Bowl on Tuesday night. Georgia Tech's defensive ends, including star Derrick Morgan, were pretty much rendered useless, and the 2 big runs, including the game sealing touchdown, in the 4th quarter were both to his side.
While I certainly wish Bulaga the best and hope he has a great NFL career, it's hard to see him go...especially with fellow linemen Eubanks, Calloway, and Richardson (who decided to test the pro waters as well instead of trying for a sixth year) also leaving. That leaves question marks all over the line.
Rieff and Vandervelde will be locks probably occupying left tackle and left (or right I guess) guard respectively. Center will likely be James Ferentz, though Koeppel will be a senior and in the mix. Adam Gettis has some experience and could be the other guard. Markus Zusevics is a name the has been brought up by Ferentz as someone making good strides. He has seen very limited action, but was listed as the second string right tackle throughout the year. There are also a handful of freshmen and guys like Kyle Haganman and Cody Hundertmark (who switched over to the offense from a backup defensive tackle).
Anyway, good luck to Bryan Bulaga...I hope you get drafted in the first round and make lots of money.
While I certainly wish Bulaga the best and hope he has a great NFL career, it's hard to see him go...especially with fellow linemen Eubanks, Calloway, and Richardson (who decided to test the pro waters as well instead of trying for a sixth year) also leaving. That leaves question marks all over the line.
Rieff and Vandervelde will be locks probably occupying left tackle and left (or right I guess) guard respectively. Center will likely be James Ferentz, though Koeppel will be a senior and in the mix. Adam Gettis has some experience and could be the other guard. Markus Zusevics is a name the has been brought up by Ferentz as someone making good strides. He has seen very limited action, but was listed as the second string right tackle throughout the year. There are also a handful of freshmen and guys like Kyle Haganman and Cody Hundertmark (who switched over to the offense from a backup defensive tackle).
Anyway, good luck to Bryan Bulaga...I hope you get drafted in the first round and make lots of money.
Iowa's Fake Field Goal
Obviously the fake field goal ended badly. But I thought it was a great call. Just a quick recap of the situation: Iowa was up 17-14 with about 7 minutes left in the game and had great field position off of an A.J. Edds interception. After a near miss on 3rd and goal (Robinson fell after breaking wide open in the back of the end zone) Iowa sent out the field goal unit.
With Paul Johnson's aggressive reputation and with the fact that GT's kicker, Scott Blair, had already missed a 41 yard field goal earlier in the game, I don't think anyone Georgia Tech would have settled for a field goal had they gotten a chance later in the game unless is was 4th down and longer than 6 or 7 yards. Therefore, going up by 6 points instead of just 3 would do little for the Hawkeyes as a TD would still win the game for the Yellow Jackets.
Furthermore, a field goal would mean that Iowa would have to kick off to GT, with GT knowing a TD would win. Based on the results of the other kick off returns, Tech would have likely only had around 65 yards to go for the go ahead score. A turnover on downs, however, leaves Tech with 90 yards in front of them.
And, a touchdown there would have pretty much sealed the deal. It was a high reward, low risk situation. So, good call Coach Ferentz...well done.
The actual play:
In case you missed it, or forgot what it looked like, here it is on YouTube. From what I can tell Iowa executed the play as it was designed. The snap and subsequent pitch between the legs (which was kind of beautiful) were both executed perfectly by Schulze and Donahue. And Murray did everything he could (you can't really expect him to outrun anybody). I think the blocking was there too...I can't actually tell who they were, but both of the guys on the end got great block downfield.
The only problem with the play was that the Georgia Tech did not bite on the fake. There were 2 unblocked defenders on the outside (I think by design), one crashed towards the middle of the field and ran himself out of the play, but the other recognized the fake almost immediately and was able to run done Murray. If both players would have crashed to the middle, Murray could have walked it in.
Anyway, it was a fun play and in the end its failure was a non-factor as Georgia Tech went backwards on its next possession, the Hawks got the ball back and scored, and the rest is history.
With Paul Johnson's aggressive reputation and with the fact that GT's kicker, Scott Blair, had already missed a 41 yard field goal earlier in the game, I don't think anyone Georgia Tech would have settled for a field goal had they gotten a chance later in the game unless is was 4th down and longer than 6 or 7 yards. Therefore, going up by 6 points instead of just 3 would do little for the Hawkeyes as a TD would still win the game for the Yellow Jackets.
Furthermore, a field goal would mean that Iowa would have to kick off to GT, with GT knowing a TD would win. Based on the results of the other kick off returns, Tech would have likely only had around 65 yards to go for the go ahead score. A turnover on downs, however, leaves Tech with 90 yards in front of them.
And, a touchdown there would have pretty much sealed the deal. It was a high reward, low risk situation. So, good call Coach Ferentz...well done.
The actual play:
In case you missed it, or forgot what it looked like, here it is on YouTube. From what I can tell Iowa executed the play as it was designed. The snap and subsequent pitch between the legs (which was kind of beautiful) were both executed perfectly by Schulze and Donahue. And Murray did everything he could (you can't really expect him to outrun anybody). I think the blocking was there too...I can't actually tell who they were, but both of the guys on the end got great block downfield.
The only problem with the play was that the Georgia Tech did not bite on the fake. There were 2 unblocked defenders on the outside (I think by design), one crashed towards the middle of the field and ran himself out of the play, but the other recognized the fake almost immediately and was able to run done Murray. If both players would have crashed to the middle, Murray could have walked it in.
Anyway, it was a fun play and in the end its failure was a non-factor as Georgia Tech went backwards on its next possession, the Hawks got the ball back and scored, and the rest is history.
Orange Bowl Prediction: Review
I made a few predictions on the Orange Bowl yesterday throughout the day before the game started. I did okay and was pretty close on my guess of a final score of 24-17 (actual score was 24-14, in case you forgot). I would have been perfect if not for the missed Georgia Tech field goal in the 3rd quarter.
Prediction: The first offensive play for both teams will be a pass.
Actual: Both teams ran it their first offensive play. Iowa did use the pass a lot early on though and Stanzi started the game 8-8 with 2 TDs. Georgia Tech did not pass it much though. Besides the final desperation possession, Nesbitt only aired it out 5 times.
Prediction: Georgia Tech will punt more than it kickoffs for the first time.
Actual: I nailed this one on the head. Georgia Tech punted it a season high 7 times and only kicked it off 3 times.
Prediction: Iowa will average more yards per carry than Georgia Tech.
Actual: Bingo! Not only did Iowa average more yards per carry than Georgia Tech (4.4 to 3.5), Iowa actually out-gained GT on the ground 172 to 143 total rush yards.
Prediction: Iowa will return a fumbled pitch for a TD.
Actual: Sadly, this did not come true. Georgia Tech pitched the ball a lot less than expected, largely due to the fact that Nesbitt had a defensive lineman on him before he had time to do anything with the ball.
Prediction: The first offensive play for both teams will be a pass.
Actual: Both teams ran it their first offensive play. Iowa did use the pass a lot early on though and Stanzi started the game 8-8 with 2 TDs. Georgia Tech did not pass it much though. Besides the final desperation possession, Nesbitt only aired it out 5 times.
Prediction: Georgia Tech will punt more than it kickoffs for the first time.
Actual: I nailed this one on the head. Georgia Tech punted it a season high 7 times and only kicked it off 3 times.
Prediction: Iowa will average more yards per carry than Georgia Tech.
Actual: Bingo! Not only did Iowa average more yards per carry than Georgia Tech (4.4 to 3.5), Iowa actually out-gained GT on the ground 172 to 143 total rush yards.
Prediction: Iowa will return a fumbled pitch for a TD.
Actual: Sadly, this did not come true. Georgia Tech pitched the ball a lot less than expected, largely due to the fact that Nesbitt had a defensive lineman on him before he had time to do anything with the ball.
Orange Bowl Headline Generator
Inevitably after the spectacular Hawkeye win in the Orange Bowl sports writers and bloggers everywhere will come up with witty headlines to describe Iowa's performance. To give them a head start I have built a simple headline generator.
Georgia Tech Beat by Iowa
Georgia Tech Beat by Iowa