Iowa-Georgia Tech: IOWOW! Hawkeyes Prove They Deserve To Be in the Big Bowl

Headlines I considered for this article:

Iowa Crashes Georgia Wreck and the Ramblin' Tech

The Score Doesn't Tell the Story in Iowa's Wrecking the Tech

Orange Bowl Question? How Did Iowa lose to Ohio State?

A close game was expected, but the score told nothing of the 403 yards of Iowa offense compared to Georgia Tech's paltry 156.

This was a dominating game that belies the 10-point margin of victory.

Instead of watching Georgia Tech run the ball, Iowa ran for almost 30 yards more, with 172 yards, but the big surprise was the 231 yards passing on a defense that was thought to be pretty sound.

Ricky Stanzi threw two touchdown strikes in the first quarter to build a 14-7 lead for the Hawkeyes, and looked like an All American before going to the running game to eat some clock and grind down the Tech defense.

And the Iowa defense looked just as dominating as the Hawkeye offense, turning in one of their best performances of the year against a quality opponent.

Adrian Clayborne looked like next year's Suh, and the rest of the defense shut down the vaunted Georgia Tech running game with relative ease.

They sacked and pressured the quarterback all night, and even came up with an interception to make up for the one that the Iowa offense gave up earlier.

And with Clayborne's announcement that he would return for his senior year, there is no reason to expect that Iowa might not be playing for a Rose Bowl bid next year.

Tech averages one of the nation's leading rushing attacks, averaging over 300 yards rushing a game, but just like the chilly air, which was 49 degrees at kickoff, the Yellow Jacket running game never got warmed up.

The win will surely place Iowa in the minds of the preseason voters and also did much to help rebuild Big Ten pride in the bowl games.