Iowa’s 2009 season had its share of highlights.

The Stanzi-to-McNutt touchdown. A 35-3 drubbing of Iowa State. Adrian Clayborn’s blocked punt that secured Iowa’s upset over No. 5 Penn State in Beaver Stadium.

These moments — and the many other highlight-reel plays from that historical season — were all leading up to one thing: the Orange Bowl.

“It was special,” Moeaki said. “When we actually got to Miami, those practices were as intense as training camp practices. We were battling. We didn’t care who we were playing, we were just ready to go. And that’s a credit to coach Ferentz; he’s the best coach in the country. To do it for coach Ferentz, that was as much motivation as any. We wanted to do it for him.”

Iowa defeated No. 9 Georgia Tech in the program’s biggest bowl-game win in decades.

McNutt opened the game’s scoring with a four-yard touchdown reception from Stanzi in the first quarter. Iowa never relinquished that lead.

“This is a big-time BCS bowl,” McNutt said. “We knew what we were too, as far as how good of a team we were. We felt like we were the best team in the nation that year. It was huge because we were part of something bigger. To do that for Iowa, I felt like that was my job, to do whatever my team asks me to do. I’m all about winning, and that’s what we felt like.”

The Yellow Jackets featured an unorthodox option offense led by a dominant rushing attack. The Iowa defense suffocated Georgia Tech, allowing only 143 rushing yards, down from the 295 yards it had averaged on the season.

“Coach [Norm] Parker, he had a great game plan for us,” Angerer said. “From the first practice, him just sort of breaking it down and explaining it to us very simply, we knew that we were going to be well-prepared. It also helps when you have Adrian Clayborn and the other defensive linemen that we had. That makes things pretty easy as a linebacker, just kind of run around and not get blocked.”

Ending the season with a victory in the Orange Bowl was a surreal experience for Iowa. It was a celebration, not only of what the players achieved on the field, but what the program had been through to get to this point.

“It meant a lot just because we wanted to give the coaches that win,” Angerer said. “They went down to the Orange Bowl in 2002 and lost to USC. We wanted to go out on a high note. Seeing the joy on the coaches’ faces, on Norm Parker’s face, all of them, it was just amazing. There was a lot of hard work that went into it from everybody, and for it to finally turn out well meant a lot to us all.”

The Orange Bowl may still be Ferentz’s signature win as Iowa’s head coach. The impact he had on that 2009 team — and all the other teams he has coached — is obvious.

“Coach Ferentz’s resume speaks for itself,” Moeaki said. “He’s the best coach in the country, just awesome to play for. He’ll get after you if you’re doing something wrong, but we just loved playing for him. I thought what jumped off the film, especially in the Orange Bowl game, is how much everyone loves playing for coach Ferentz.”