Georgia Tech Draws Iowa in Orange Bowl, Jackets Breathe Easier

(Anthony Allen and the Yellow Jackets got a pretty fair bowl draw with Iowa.)

If defense truly wins championships, then the ACC is, once and for all, completely backward. Georgia Tech, now the reigning conference champions, have the BCS' worst defense.

That bodes well for the Jackets, who just a few hours ago found out that their Orange Bowl opponent would feature the BCS' worst offense.

The Iowa Hawkeyes, driven by a quarterback that may or may not be healthy come Jan. 5, rank 93rd in total offense, 54th in the pass and 103rd in the run.

Now granted, Iowa has had seriously injury problems, from losing potential starting running back Jewel Hampton before the season started to the late subtraction of quarterback Ricky Stanzi thanks to an ankle injury that required surgery.

It's possible Stanzi could play in the Orange Bowl, but what should concern the Hawkeyes most is that running game.

The two teams that beat the Jackets this year—Miami and Georgia—rushed for 184 yards and and 339 yards, respectively, and Clemson nearly did Tech in on the back of a 233-yard performance from C.J. Spiller. Each of the first two had their greatest success running the ball straight at Georgia Tech, and some of Spiller's biggest runs were downhill plays that he bounced outside after reaching the second level.

Looking at personnel, Iowa's dual-back system has produced just four 100-yard games all season between freshmen Brandon Wegher and Adam Robinson.

If Iowa can't run the ball effectively against the Jackets, things could get hairy. Georgia Tech's pass defense has been ineffective against good teams this season, but the Jackets have a turnover margin of plus-.54 and pass rusher Derrick Morgan, now an All-American.

If Stanzi is healthy, he gives his team a serious boost. But he has still struggled with accuracy this year, as evidenced by his 15-14 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He's completing just 56 percent of his passes and threw multiple picks in four games this season.

Where Iowa makes its living, however, (and likely where the Hawkeyes will win or lose this game) is on defense. Not by coincidence, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz is one of the best in the business at defensive gameplanning.

The Hawkeyes have the capability to dominate at the line of scrimmage, which is the best way to shut down this offense. Defenses that get consistent penetration at the point of attack have shown themselves most capable of stopping the spread option.

It's got to be a little bit scary for Ferentz to watch Clemson—then the No. 15 defense nationally and blessed with a ton of size and talent along the line—still get burned, simply by a gameplan that pushed the ball outside instead of using Jonathan Dwyer as a first option on the dive.

But Ferentz truly has made his living as a defensive whiz, and he's got almost a month to put together a plan for Paul Johnson's offense.

One of the few questions that lingers about that offense is whether it is weaker in bowl season, because an opponent has so much time to study it and gameplan against it.

Given the array of talent at his disposal and the foe he now faces, the offensive performance Johnson orchestrates in Miami will probably go a long way toward either mostly satisfying or further irritating that itch.

There will be plenty of time for further statistical breakdown over the next month, but on its surface this game looks like a great matching of minds (Ferentz vs. Paul Johnson), and a potential home run pairing by the Orange Bowl folks.

Beating the Hawkeyes, who play some of the best defense in the defensive-minded Big Ten, will be no simple task. But of all the possible opponents Georgia Tech could have drawn here, (TCU, Cincinnati chiefly among them) this one likely gives the Jackets the best chance to win.

And that's the whole point, right?