It only took like 20 tries, but the Hawkeyes finally did it! National Champions in the ESPN College Football Playoffs Simulation, beating Oregon, Texas, Virginia Tech, and Penn State (again). Now, if only this could happen in real life.

Has it really been 5 days since I last posted? I'm getting lazy. Anyway, since then a lot of the post season awards and All-American lists have been coming out. Most of the top awards generated very little hype here in the Midwest as the Big Ten was, for the most part, completely non-existent. Angerer was a finalist for the Bronko Naguriski Trophy for the top defender, but we all knew that award would go to Ndamukong Suh. Suh did provide a little bit of excitement for the Heisman Award and actually finished 4th, which is probably as high as we'll ever see a defensive tackle. Mark Ingram (Bama's running back) won, which is better than another QB. But it's still just the most flashy offensive player on the top team in the country that's winning the Heisman.

Anyway, back to the Hawkeyes. There are a few that have received some national attention and more within the Big Ten. The big winners are :

Pat Angerer
-First Team Football Writers Association of America All-American
-Second Team Walter Camp Association All-American
-First Team Coaches All-Big Ten
-First Team Media All-Big Ten
-Second Team CBS Sports All-American
-Co-Roy J. Carver Most Valuable Player Award

Bryan Bulaga
-Second Team Walter Camp Association All-American
-First Team Coaches All-Big Ten
-Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year
-First Team Media All-Big Ten

Tyler Sash
-First Team CBS Sports All-American
-First Team Coaches All-Big Ten
-First Team Media All-Big Ten

Dace Richardson
-Second Team CBS Sports All-American
-First Team Coaches All-Big Ten
-Second Team Media All-Big Ten

And now, the Hawkeye all-conference members in addition to Angerer, Bulaga, Sash, and Richardson (this is kind of old, I know).

Coaches All-Big Ten

• Tony Moeaki - 1st team
• Adrian Clayborn - 1st team
• Amari Spievey - 1st team
• Derrell Johnson-Koulianos -2nd team
• Rafeal Eubanks - 2nd team
• A.J. Edds - 2nd team
• Christian Ballard - honorable mention
• Kyle Calloway - honorable mention
• Ryan Donahue - honorable mention
• Brett Greenwood - honorable mention
• Karl Klug - honorable mention
• Adam Robinson - honorable mention

Media All-Big Ten

• Adrian Clayborn - 1st team
• Rafeal Eubanks - 2nd team
• Kyle Calloway - 2nd team
• Tony Moeaki - 2nd team
• Brett Greenwood - 2nd team
• Amari Spievey - 2nd team
• Ryan Donahue - honorable mention
• Broderick Binns - honorable mention
• A.J. Edds - honorable mention
• Derrell Johnson-Koulianos - honorable mention
• Karl Klug - honorable mention
• Daniel Murray - honorable mention
• Adam Robinson - honorable mention
• Ricky Stanzi - honorable mention

I've been doing my research on Georgia Tech (watching games on ESPN360 and reading what I can) since the Orange Bowl pairing was announced on Sunday. Georgia Tech is a crazy, crazy team. There are not many facets of the game in which they mediocre or average. They are either really good or really terrible and as a result put up some crazy numbers.

I already mentioned the fact that they have had 3 games this year in which neither team punted and that GT has only punted 30 times all year (lowest number in the country). Tying to that, is the fact that Georgia Tech has gone for it on 4th down 26 times this year (Iowa has just 10 times). There are only 4 teams with more 4th down tries. GT is also 2nd in the country in 3rd down conversions with a 53.5% success rate.

Some more extreme stats:

• Georgia Tech has fumbled the ball 34 times (Iowa only has fumbled it 9 times), but lost only 12.
• GT is 8th in passing efficiency despite completing only 47.8% of its passes and having only 11 passing TDs this year. However, GT leads the nation in yards per pass attempt at 11.08 (Iowa's yards per pass is a whopping 4.68).
• No shocker here, considering the fact that GT rarely passes, but GT is 3rd in the nation for least sacks allowed.
• The defense gives up almost 5 yards per carry, 105th in the nation, and 6.09 yards per play, 100th in the nation.
  
• Also not surprising, but GT has more carries than any other team with 751.
  

If Georgia Tech’s last 2 games are any indication of how the Orange Bowl will turn out, then Iowa’s punter Ryan Donahue may get to enjoy a week relaxing in Miami without having to worry about playing in a football game. In GT’s games against Georgia and Clemson the teams combined for exactly 0 punts. How is that even possible?! (Actually it’s a simple formula: really good offense + really bad defense = no punting.) Georgia Tech also had games against Florida State with 0 total punts and against Mississippi State with only 3 (all by GT).

An Iowa game rarely goes 5 minutes without a punt. In the Hawkeye’s past 2 games there have been 25 total punts. Just for fun I looked up that last time Iowa did not punt in a game. You have to go way back to August 31, 2002 against Akron when Iowa score 57 points on 7 TDs and 2 FGs. I couldn’t even find a game that an Iowa opponent didn’t punt the ball (I only went back to 2002).

I have caught bits and pieces of a few Georgia Tech's games this year, mostly just to check out Paul Johnson's old school triple option offense. I must say, it is pretty fun to watch. Amazingly, EStuPidN360 (not as stupid in this case) has all 13 of Georgia Tech's game from this season available to watch. So you can imagine what I'll be doing over the next 4 weeks. My initial thoughts though, without much analysis, is that of the teams that Iowa could have faced in the BCS this year, Georgia Tech is the most favorable.

The Yellow Jackets certainly have a unique offense and a few players that must be accounted for, but with 4 weeks to prepare, Norm Parker and company will have the defense well prepared. A couple of keys for the defense:

• Spievey must shut down Demaryius Thomas who accounts for 1154 of Georgia Tech's 1762 receiving yards. He is really the only threat at receiver.
• Limit the big play. Georgia Tech can sustain long drives with short runs, but the real threat is the big play. I tallied up GT's touchdowns this year and of the 60 there were 12 that were over 40 yards and 5 of 11 passing TD were over 60 yards.
• Get pressure up front and force losses. GT is very good on 3rd downs (53.5%, 2nd in the nation) but that's because they put themselves in many 3rd and short situations. If Iowa can force into obvious passing downs, then GT will be in a tough place.

Defensively Georgia Tech has been mediocre. They give up just over 24 points per game. Their weakness is against the run, giving up over 150 yards per game. In their past two games, Clemson had 323 rushing yards and Georgia had 339. If Iowa gets over 300 yards rushing, then Georgia Tech has no chance. Keys on offense:

• Block Derrick Morgan. Morgan has 12.5 sacks and 18 TFLs. He has also forced and recovered 2 fumbles. He's the last thing we want running after Stanzi who will be coming off his ankle injury.
• Run the ball effectively. As I pointed out, GT is not exactly good against the run. If Iowa can establish a solid run game and keep GT's offense off of the field, then Iowa should be in good shape to win the game.
  
• Limit turnovers. This is obvious every game but has really been hurting Iowa lately. GT has forced 24 turnovers this year so can definitely take advantage of a miscue.

Overall, I have a good feeling about this game. I think Iowa will be better prepared than they were in 2003 against USC and will be able to shut down Georgia Tech's offense. If everyone is finally healthy, it should be a fun night on January 5th.