Iowa will attempt to win its 10th game of the season in less than two weeks when it takes on USC in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 27, but the Hawkeyes are at a disadvantage.

Because of finals week and the earlier bowl game, time for player development has decreased.

The Hawkeyes started practicing shortly after the bowl game was announced on Dec. 8, but Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said the weeks have felt more like a double-bye during the season.

“That’s disappointing because we’re a developmental program,” Ferentz said. “Now, those calendar hours we just can’t make it up. We’ll just have to do a better job in the spring.”

Ferentz said he doesn’t know much about USC at this point, but he’s aware of the challenge the Trojans’ air raid offense poses with freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis and senior wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. at the helm.

That makes the little time for preparation even more of a challenge.

“The bottom line is we’re really going to have to do a great job of utilizing what time we do have,” Ferentz said. “And when we are practicing — as limited as it may be — we really have to be spot-on with our practice and our preparation, so we can at least go out and play to the best of our ability. I know it’s going to take every bit of that to have a chance to play successfully against a team like this.”

NFL bound?

Ferentz said Monday that the only players he’s aware of that have filed paperwork for the NFL Draft Advisory Board are offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs, defensive end A.J. Epenesa, and safety Geno Stone.

That means offensive tackle Alaric Jackson and defensive end Chauncey Golston are not going through the draft process right now.

While more discussions could come after the Holiday Bowl because Iowa is playing a relatively early game, the NFL knows what it’s doing in its evaluations.

“They’ve done evaluations already, whereas maybe two years ago, they were scrambling around,” Ferentz said. “We’re in the process, like every year, of gathering information. My point is that the information now is a little bit more in-depth and probably accurate.”

Replacing Stanley

For the first time in three years, Iowa will be without Nate Stanley when spring football comes around.

When the winter snow begins to melt and temperatures start to spike, there will be a quarterback competition at the Stew and LeNore Hansen Football Performance Center.

The competition will mainly consist of current backup Spencer Petras and third-stringer Peyton Mansell, along with Alex Padilla and incoming freshman Deuce Hogan.

Petras has continued to take reps with the second-team and some with the first, Ferentz said, but nothing will be set in stone until the competition takes place.

“I’d reserve judgment on the whole group until we get them where we’re really competing with those guys on equal footing,” Ferentz said.