We got a pretty good crowd last night for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and I would guess that we will get the same this evening for the Orange Bowl. Just one more game after tonight before we get to the National Championship Game. This evenings matchup should be nothing short of exciting. There are some dynamic players coming of both sidelines which should make it even more interesting. The Orange Bowl has been revered as one of the most prestigious bowl games. The history of the Orange Bowl goes all the way back to 1935 and in that time have been some fantastic knock 'em down drag 'em out slugfests.
Tonight's matchup features The # 9 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets against The # 10 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes. Georgia Tech finished 1st in the ACC Coastal Division with a (11-2, 7-1) record while Iowa finished 2nd in the Big Ten with a (10-2, 6-2) record. Like I mentioned above, there will be several key players in this game. Below the jump we will look at some of these players, their stats, and other relative information to the game tonight.
# 9 GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS VS # 10 IOWA HAWKEYES
FEDEX ORANGE BOWL PREVIEW
Key players to watch for the Yellow Jackets:
[# 9] Josh Nesbitt QB
Comp Rate 47.7%, 1689 Yards, 11.0 Yds/Att, 10 TD's-- 259 Rush Attempts, 991 Yards, 3.8 Avg, 18 TD's
[# 21] Jonathan Dwyer RB
221 Attempts, 1346 Yards, 6.1 Avg, 14 TD's
[# 8] Demaryious "Bey Bey" Thomas WR
46 Catches, 1154 Yards, 25.1 Avg, 8 TD's
[# 91] Derrick Morgan DE
52 Tackles, 12 Sacks, 2 Fumbles Forced
[# 1] Morgan Burnett SS
77 Tackles, 4 INT's, 40 Yards
Career Stats: 227 Tackles, 1 Fumble Forced, 1 Sack, 14 INT's, 135 Yards, 1 TD
Led by Coach: Paul Johnson (2nd year, 20-6)
Key players to watch for the Hawkeyes:
[# 12] Ricky Stanzi QB
Comp Rate 56.0%, 2186 Yards, 7.9 Yds/Att, 15 TD's
[# 32] Adam Robinson RB
167 Attempts, 775 Yards, 4.6 Avg, 5 TD's
[# 15] Derrell Johnson-Koulianos WR
41 Catches, 687 Yards, 16.8 Avg, 2 TD's
[# 81] Tony Moeaki TE
26 Catches, 302 Yards, 11.6 Avg, 4 TD's
[# 79] Bryan Bulaga OT
6'6" 312 Junior, 2V
[# 78] Dace Richardson OG
6'6" 305 Senior, 2V
[# 9] Tyler Sash S (Sophomore)
84 Tackles, 2 Fumbles Forced, 6 INT's, 203 Yards, 1 TD
Career Stats: 137 Tackles, 3 Fumbles Forced, 1 Sack, 11 INT's, 350 Yards, 1 TD
Led by Coach: Kirk Ferentz (11th year, 79-53)
WHEN: 8:00 PM ET, 5:00 PM PST
WHERE: LAND SHARK STADIUM, MIAMI GARDENS, FL
TV: FOX
SATELITE: SIRIUS, XM
History of The Orange Bowl:
| Date played |
Winning team |
Losing team |
Notes |
| January 1, 1935 |
Bucknell |
26 |
Miami (FL) |
0 |
notes |
| January 1, 1936
|
Catholic University |
20 |
Mississippi |
19 |
notes |
| January 1, 1937
|
Duquesne |
13 |
Mississippi State |
12 |
notes |
| January 1, 1938
|
Auburn |
6 |
Michigan State |
0 |
notes |
| January 2, 1939 |
Tennessee |
17 |
Oklahoma |
0 |
notes |
| January 1, 1940
|
Georgia Tech |
21 |
Missouri |
7 |
notes |
| January 1, 1941
|
Mississippi State |
14 |
Georgetown |
7 |
notes |
| January 1, 1942
|
Georgia |
40 |
TCU |
26 |
notes |
| January 1, 1943
|
Alabama |
37 |
Boston College |
21 |
notes |
| January 1, 1944
|
LSU |
19 |
Texas A&M |
14 |
notes |
| January 1, 1945
|
Tulsa |
26 |
Georgia Tech |
12 |
notes |
| January 1, 1946
|
Miami (FL) |
13 |
Holy Cross |
6 |
notes |
| January 1, 1947
|
Rice |
8 |
Tennessee |
0 |
notes |
| January 1, 1948
|
Georgia Tech |
20 |
Kansas |
14 |
notes |
| January 1, 1949
|
Texas |
41 |
Georgia |
28 |
notes |
| January 2, 1950
|
Santa Clara |
21 |
Kentucky |
13 |
notes |
| January 1, 1951
|
Clemson |
15 |
Miami (FL) |
14 |
notes |
| January 1, 1952
|
Georgia Tech |
17 |
Baylor |
14 |
notes |
| January 1, 1953
|
Alabama |
61 |
Syracuse |
6 |
notes |
| January 1, 1954
|
Oklahoma |
7 |
Maryland |
0 |
notes |
| January 1, 1955
|
Duke |
34 |
Nebraska |
7 |
notes |
| January 2, 1956
|
Oklahoma |
20 |
Maryland |
6 |
notes |
| January 1, 1957
|
Colorado |
27 |
Clemson |
21 |
notes |
| January 1, 1958
|
Oklahoma |
48 |
Duke |
21 |
notes |
| January 1, 1959
|
Oklahoma |
21 |
Syracuse |
6 |
notes |
| January 1, 1960
|
Georgia |
14 |
Missouri |
0 |
notes |
| January 2, 1961
|
Missouri |
21 |
Navy |
14 |
notes |
| January 1, 1962
|
LSU |
25 |
Colorado |
7 |
notes |
| January 1, 1963
|
Alabama |
17 |
Oklahoma |
0 |
notes |
| January 1, 1964
|
Nebraska |
13 |
Auburn |
7 |
notes |
| January 1, 1965
|
Texas |
21 |
Alabama |
17 |
notes |
| January 1, 1966
|
Alabama |
39 |
Nebraska |
28 |
notes |
| January 2, 1967
|
Florida |
27 |
Georgia Tech |
12 |
notes |
| January 1, 1968
|
Oklahoma |
26 |
Tennessee |
24 |
notes |
| January 1, 1969
|
Penn State |
15 |
Kansas |
14 |
notes |
| January 1, 1970
|
Penn State |
10 |
Missouri |
3 |
notes |
| January 1, 1971
|
Nebraska |
17 |
LSU |
12 |
notes |
| January 1, 1972
|
Nebraska |
38 |
Alabama |
6 |
notes |
| January 1, 1973
|
Nebraska |
40 |
Notre Dame |
6 |
notes |
| January 1, 1974
|
Penn State |
16 |
LSU |
9 |
notes |
| January 1, 1975
|
Notre Dame |
13 |
Alabama |
11 |
notes |
| January 1, 1976
|
Oklahoma |
14 |
Michigan |
6 |
notes |
| January 1, 1977
|
Ohio State |
27 |
Colorado |
10 |
notes |
| January 2, 1978
|
Arkansas |
31 |
Oklahoma |
6 |
notes |
| January 1, 1979
|
Oklahoma |
31 |
Nebraska |
24 |
notes |
| January 1, 1980
|
Oklahoma |
24 |
Florida State |
7 |
notes |
| January 1, 1981
|
Oklahoma |
18 |
Florida State |
17 |
notes |
| January 1, 1982
|
Clemson |
22 |
Nebraska |
15 |
notes |
| January 1, 1983
|
Nebraska |
21 |
LSU |
20 |
notes |
| January 2, 1984
|
Miami (FL) |
31 |
Nebraska |
30 |
notes |
| January 1, 1985
|
Washington |
28 |
Oklahoma |
17 |
notes |
| January 1, 1986
|
Oklahoma |
25 |
Penn State |
10 |
notes |
| January 1, 1987
|
Oklahoma |
42 |
Arkansas |
8 |
notes |
| January 1, 1988
|
Miami (FL) |
20 |
Oklahoma |
14 |
notes |
| January 2, 1989
|
Miami (FL) |
23 |
Nebraska |
3 |
notes |
| January 1, 1990
|
Notre Dame |
21 |
Colorado |
6 |
notes |
| January 1, 1991
|
Colorado |
10 |
Notre Dame |
9 |
notes |
| January 1, 1992
|
Miami (FL) |
22 |
Nebraska |
0 |
notes |
| January 1, 1993
|
Florida State |
27 |
Nebraska |
14 |
notes |
| January 1, 1994+ |
Florida State |
18 |
Nebraska |
16 |
notes |
| January 1, 1995+ |
Nebraska |
24 |
Miami (FL) |
17 |
notes |
| January 1, 1996
|
Florida State |
31 |
Notre Dame |
26 |
notes |
| December 31, 1996 |
Nebraska |
41 |
Virginia Tech |
21 |
notes |
| January 2, 1998^ |
Nebraska |
42 |
Tennessee |
17 |
notes |
| January 2, 1999~ |
Florida |
31 |
Syracuse |
10 |
notes |
| January 1, 2000† |
Michigan |
35 |
Alabama |
34 |
notes |
| January 3, 2001* |
Oklahoma |
13 |
Florida State |
2 |
notes |
| January 2, 2002
|
Florida |
56 |
Maryland |
23 |
notes |
| January 2, 2003
|
USC |
38 |
Iowa |
17 |
notes |
| January 1, 2004
|
Miami (FL) |
16 |
Florida State |
14 |
notes |
| January 4, 2005* |
USC |
55 |
Oklahoma |
19 |
notes |
| January 3, 2006††† |
Penn State |
26 |
Florida State |
23 |
notes |
| January 2, 2007
|
Louisville |
24 |
Wake Forest |
13 |
notes |
| January 3, 2008
|
Kansas |
24 |
Virginia Tech |
21 |
notes |
| January 1, 2009
|
Virginia Tech |
20 |
Cincinnati |
7 |
notes |
| January 5, 2010
|
Iowa vs. Georgia Tech
|
notes |
