Joe Evans believes Iowa could have handled Tennessee's tempo better

Iowa‘s defense held strong against Tennessee in the first quarter of the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, but once the floodgates opened the Hawkeyes had a hard time slowing down the Volunteers.

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava found the end zone on the first play of the second quarter with a 19-yard run, and it was all Volunteers from there.

One thing seemed to catch the Iowa defense off-guard.

“I think we could have honestly handled their tempo better,” defensive end Joe Evans said. “We tried to emulate that in practice and it’s a tough thing to do. When they’re getting a play off every 10 seconds, every 15 seconds, definitely think that we could have done a better job with that.”

Tennessee scored two touchdowns in the second quarter, one in the third quarter and two in the fourth to win 35-0. While Iowa’s offense was a definite problem in the contest, few saw the defense having that many struggles against the Volunteers.

Iamaleava was allowed to get comfortable in the first start of his career, and he came out looking the part of a five-star prospect at quarterback.

The talented playmaker finished 12-of-19 passing for 151 yards and a touchdown, without throwing an interception. He also ran 15 times for 27 yards and three scores.

Evans pointed specifically to the team’s failures to slow one aspect of Iamaleava’s game — and Tennessee’s, by extension.

“Stopping the run,” Evans said. “We were playing with a light box, but I think we could have done a better job there and just from my standpoint on the defensive line just playing better with our hands and better fundamentals and stuff.”

When the game finished, Tennessee had piled up an impressive 232 yards of offense on the ground. With the ground game rolling, Tennessee dictated the tempo and the pace of the game, something Iowa desperately needed to avoid.

It led to a thoroughly lopsided contest, with Tennessee outgaining Iowa 383-173 in the game.

Tennessee also maintained a 31:12-28:48 edge in time of possession in the contest, earning its ninth win as Iowa fell to 10-4 on the season following the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.