Looking back on Iowa’s best offensive bowls under Ferentz
Ahead of the 2019 Holiday Bowl, The Daily Iowan looks back on Iowa’s best bowl performances on offense under head coach Kirk Ferentz.
Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley throws a pass during the Outback Bowl game between Iowa and Mississippi State at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday, January 1, 2019. The Hawkeyes defeated the Bulldogs 27-22.
December 27, 2019
The 2019 Holiday Bowl marks Kirk Ferentz’s 17th bowl game as Iowa’s head coach and will determine whether he’s above or below .500 in those games.
In preparation for the game, The Daily Iowan took a look back at the numbers from all of the bowl games in the Ferentz era. Here are three bowl games that stand out for the Iowa offense.
2019 Outback Bowl vs. Mississippi State – Win, 27-22
Ignoring the negative total rushing yards, this game stands out in Nate Stanley’s career. He completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns for the win.
He threw a long pass of 75 yards to Nick Easley, who tallied over 100 yards and had two of Iowa’s touchdowns.
2010 Insight Bowl vs. No. 12 Missouri – Win, 24-14
Ricky Stanzi’s third-straight bowl win came in 2010 against Missouri, and it was one of the most complete offensive bowl games the Hawkeyes have played under Ferentz.
Stanzi threw for 200 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions, but the run game picked up the slack with 225 yards and two touchdowns.
Marcus Coker was the standout player in this game, rushing for over 200 yards and averaging 6.6 yards per carry.
2006 Outback Bowl vs. Florida – Loss, 24-31
Despite Iowa taking this loss, it is by far the best offensive game by an Iowa quarterback in a bowl game.
Drew Tate threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns on a 58.2 completion percentage.
Tate holds the top-three spots for bowl-game passing yards in the Ferentz era, throwing for 285 yards in the 2005 Citrus Bowl and 274 yards in the 2006 Alamo Bowl.
2010 Orange Bowl vs. No. 9 Georgia Tech – Win, 24-14
Stanzi’s second bowl win capped off a historic season for Iowa.
This was Stanzi’s best bowl performance, in which he threw for 231 yards with a long of 54 and two touchdowns.
Brandon Wegher rushed for 113 yards on an average of 7.1 yards per carry, doing his part for Iowa’s total of 172 rushing yards.
2015 TaxSlayer Bowl vs. Tennessee – Loss, 45-28
This game was the best team performance in the running game of all 16 of Ferentz’ bowl games. The Hawkeyes recorded 244 rushing yards and averaged seven per carry.
Jordan Canzeri led the running game with 120 yards and an era-leading 10 yards a rush.
The passing game didn’t stand out as much as the run game, with only 15 completed passes for 177 yards. No receiver gained more than 51 yards.
