Iowa to face Tennessee in Cheez-It Citrus Bowl
For the second time in the Kirk Ferentz era of Iowa football, the Hawkeyes will face the Tennessee Volunteers in a bowl game in the state of Florida. Last time it was in Jacksonville for the Tax Slayer Bowl in Jacksonville. This time it will be in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
The game will be played on January 1, 2024 with the kickoff time of noon, central time. The contest will be televised on ABC.
This will mark the third time that the Hawkeyes and the Volunteers have tangled in a bowl game. The first time was in 1982 when the two schools met in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. The game was played at Fulton County Stadium and Iowa prevailed 28-22. It was Iowa’s first bowl win since the 1959 Rose Bowl.
The second bowl encounter was on January 2, 2015 in the already mentioned Tax Slayer Bowl in Jacksonville. In that game, Tennessee scored the first 28 points of the game on their way to an easy 45-28 victory over Iowa.
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The other meeting between Iowa and Tennessee was in the Kickoff Classic back in 1987 with the Vols winning that contest, 23-22 in East Rutherford, NJ.
This will Iowa’s third trip to Orlando for the January 1st bowl game that has had different title sponsors for each appearance. In 2005 it was known as the Capital One Bowl and Iowa defeated LSU 30-25 on a walk-off touchdown pass from Drew Tate to Warren Holloway. The just two years ago, Iowa lost to Kentucky in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl, 20-17.
The Volunteers come into this game with an 8-4 record and 4-4 in the SEC East Division. Their four losses were to Florida, Alabama, Missouri, and Georgia. Three of those four are in the College Football Playoff / New Year’s Six Bowl games. Their best win was at Kentucky, 33-27.
