ORLANDO, Fla. — Between a trip to SeaWorld, attending an Orlando Magic game, and spending time in the Sunshine State’s 80-degree climate, the Hawkeyes have had plenty of time away from the football field ahead of Saturday’s Citrus Bowl.

But Iowa knows this is a business trip.

“It’s always cool to just be in a different place,” senior defensive back Jack Koerner said on Wednesday. “But at the end of the day, we are focused on the game because coach [Kirk] Ferentz, what he’s been preaching in the team meetings is, ‘The most memorable part about bowl trips is winning the game.'”

The No. 15 Hawkeyes (10-3 overall, 7-3 Big Ten) will play No. 22 Kentucky (9-3, 5-3 SEC) in the Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium on Saturday. A win would push Iowa to its fourth 11-win season in program history. Ahead of a matchup with the Wildcats, offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, defensive coordinator Phil Parker, Kentucky’s coordinators, and select players from both teams spoke at a press conference on Wednesday morning.

Below are some takeaways from what they all had to say.

Will Levis looks like a new quarterback

Iowa played Kentucky’s Will Levis last year when the quarterback was still at Penn State. In Iowa’s 41-21 win over Penn State in Happy Valley last season, Levis completed 13 of 16 pass attempts for 106 yards and led the Nittany Lions with 34 rushing yards while splitting time at quarterback.

Levis is the full-time starter in his first season at Kentucky.

The 6-foot-3, 222-pounder has thrown for 23 touchdowns and increased his completion percentage by six percent in 2021, while still racking up 511 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns behind an offensive line that was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award. Levis’ top receiving target has been another player Iowa is familiar with, former Nebraska receiver Wan’Dale Robinson. The junior has caught 94 passes for 1,164 yards and seven touchdowns this season.

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Levis is more of a dual-threat quarterback compared to the last time he played the Hawkeyes, Koerner said.

“He seems like a much more mature player than then,” Koerner said. “When we played them last year, he was really more of a run threat to us. Getting the ball out wasn’t necessarily his strong suit. So obviously he’s matured a little bit, and he’s been throwing the ball a little bit more. And that’s obviously something we’re looking at.”

Despite his productive first season with the Wildcats, Levis does have a history of turning over the football this year. The signal caller has thrown 12 interceptions and lost two fumbles through 12 games. Kentucky as a team has a minus-13 turnover differential this season. The last time he played Iowa, Levis fumbled three times.

Iowa’s defense leads the nation with a team-record 24 interception this season and ranks third nationally with 30 turnovers forced.

Cody Ince should be healthy for Citrus Bowl

Junior offensive lineman Cody Ince took first-team snaps at left guard ahead of starter Kyler Schott during an open portion of Iowa’s practice on Tuesday.

Ince, who was listed as the starting right tackle in the offseason, was eventually kept from practicing during spring football because of an injury. Ince was then listed as the starting left guard before additional injuries started to mount and knocked him in and out of the rotation over the course of the season. On a personal level, Ince played through the death of his grandfather during the season.

Brian Ferentz described Ince’s season as a “roller-coaster.”

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But that roller-coaster ride has seemingly come to an end. Ince has practiced ahead of the Citrus Bowl and is currently in line to play. Ince, who can play all five positions along the offensive line, could use Saturday as a jump-start to a rebound 2022 season.

“Over the last three weeks, he’s been out there steadily practicing and improving and getting back in the swing of things,” Brian Ferentz said. “And the more Cody can play, it’s going to help us and solidify things up front and take pressure off some of the other guys as well if we can get that rotation going. So, I’m excited to see him on Saturday, and I think he’ll be a part of what we do as of right now and expect him to play well.”

End of an era for Iowa’s defensive backs

Senior cornerback Riley Moss and Koerner could be making their final appearances in Hawkeye uniforms on Saturday. Fifth-year senior cornerback Matt Hankins, who will not play in the Citrus Bowl because of an injury, already has.

Moss said earlier this month there is still a chance he takes advantage of an extra season of eligibility to return next season, although it is more likely he departs for the NFL Draft. Koerner has not mentioned a possibility of returning for another year to this point. Four final quarters against Kentucky could mark the end of an era for an experienced Iowa secondary.

Hankins has started on the perimeter for the last five seasons. Moss has seen action in all four of his seasons with the Hawkeyes and was recently named the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year. Koerner has started since his sophomore year and this season has recorded the most solo tackles (61) of any Hawkeye defensive back in a single season since 2002 (Bob Sanders with 68, Derek Pagel with 63).

“I think the last probably well-knit, connected group of guys in the back, one was 2015 where I think it was very unique to go into a room and talk to guys and watch the film and have good conversations about the game of football,” Parker said. “I think this group here that I’m coaching here the last two or three years are very experienced guys, and I think it has a lot of resemblance to the same team of 2015, which was a pretty remarkable year for us. Obviously, winning 10 games here, it has to do with a lot of the leadership in the back end and understanding what we have to do, and I think they have done a great job with that.”

Parker was asked about a couple of Iowa’s seniors. Here are his comments:

On Koerner: “To talk about what Jack has brought us as a walk-on, the determination, the mental toughness, the way he competes every day. He’s a smart football player, understands the game, and really works hard and a great leader. Gets everybody in the right spot. He’s good to have in the film room. He brings up a lot of good questions, and I think it’s been a great pleasure for me to coach him.”

On Moss: “He’s always had good speed and had a natural knack of doing things, catching the ball, and obviously that comes with a lot of practice and a lot of different sports that he was in. Very excited the way he has matured and understands the game and gets better. Really like his toughness. As a corner, you don’t find too many guys tougher than him, and I’m really impressed with what he does there.”

Explaining Iowa’s offensive identity

When asked about Iowa’s offensive identity this season, Brian Ferentz tried to explain.

“When you think about the offense, you need to think about the team,” Brian Ferentz said. “Our goal is simple — we want to win football games. Ultimately, we’re trying to compete for and win a Big Ten Championship. We weren’t able to do that this year. We came a little bit closer than we have in year’s past. I know offensively, perhaps we haven’t had the statistics or the measurables or any of those things. Maybe we’re not that exciting. But at the end of the day, our job is simple. We need to change field position and we need to score points. We’re a three-phase team. We play defense, we play special teams, and we play offense. And we win when all three of those phases are working together. We need to be a group that can support the team and win games however we need to win those games.”

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Iowa has the 123rd-ranked offense in the FBS this season. The Hawkeyes are only scoring 23.9 points per game this season, which comes in at 97th in the nation.

Welcome to Big Ten football, Kentucky

Kentucky, meet Iowa fullback Monte Pottebaum.

Wildcat defensive coordinator Brad White said, in an era of mostly facing spread offenses, it will be different for his defensive unit to go against a team like Iowa that uses multiple tight ends and a fullback.

“Probably inside the five-yard line,” White joked when asked the last time Kentucky has gone against an opposing team that utilized a fullback. “And it’s true, in this day and age, I joked in a previous deal back home that for some of our younger players that haven’t been around and have only seen spread offenses, especially in high school, they don’t even know what a fullback is.

“But that, it creates two-back run fits that create problems, and it stresses your rules. What you have to do is have to key on that fullback — and our guys have to do a great job of understanding. Hey, it’s creating two-by-two formations or three-by-one formations, depending which way he goes, but you have to identify flow early, and then you understand your run fit, where your support is.”