FUN FACTS! Iowa Football in the Music City Bowl

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Don’t believe Andy Williams? Well that’s just because you have not been properly introduced to the Hawkeyes from Iowa with facts that are fun. In fact, the most fun facts are about the aerial animals from Iowa City.

Kentucky will play Iowa Saturday at noon on ABC in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl. Let’s take a dive into the Iowa game notes to get better acquainted with the Hawkeyes.

Iowa Hawkeye Origin

What exactly is a Hawkeye? Some mascots can trace their origins back to early 20th century newspaper writers. “They played like Wild Cats” is how Kentucky’s nickname came to be. Iowa’s mascot origin story also comes from print, but it’s actually a novel. Hawkeye was the hero of James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans. Hawkeye was the name the natives gave the white scout and hunter in the fictional book. In 1838, thanks in large part to a newspaper publisher in Burlington, people in the Iowa territory were officially recognized as Hawkeyes, a much cooler nickname than their Hoosier neighbors in Indiana.

Herky the Hawk was created in 1948 and the “Tigerhawk” logo you see on their helmets today was first used in 1979. Hayden Fry introduced it in his first year as a part of a rebrand that modeled the school’s uniforms after the defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

Top 10 Tenured Coaches

The Music City Bowl will feature two of the longest tenured coaches in all of college football. Kirk Ferentz replaced Hall of Famer Hayden Fry in 1999. With 24 years of head coaching experience, he has held the same job longer than any other active FBS coach. Mark Stoops is tied with Dave Doeren at ninth on the list after ten seasons at Kentucky. This year the Iowa alumnus surpassed Bear Bryant as the Wildcats’ winningest coach.

Major Award Winner

No not that Major Award. Linebacker Jack Campbell did take home some hardware this season. He’s not all brawn either. The mauler has brains too. Campbell won the William V. Campbell Award given each year to college football’s top scholar athlete. He was also Iowa’s first ever recipient of the Butkus Award, given to the best linebacker in college football. Campbell had 118 tackles in 2022, now up to 261 over the last two seasons. His running-mate, Seth Benson, also had 87 tackles, ranking ninth in the conference. Two two linebackers combined for more than 200 tackles and held eight opponents to 10 points or less. Not too shabby.

Campbell was also a First Team All-American, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Big Ten Linebacker of the Year.

Iowa All-American Opt Out

The Hawkeyes have three All-Americans. One of them will not be playing in the Music City Bowl. Safety  Kaevon Merriweather was a second team selection after tallying 47 tackles, three interceptions and a scoop-and-score defensive touchdown. Instead of playing against Kentucky, he’ll get healthy for the NFL Draft.

Exceptional Iowa Special Teams

Iowa knows how to Punt to Win. In addition to a couple of defensive All-Americans, Australian punter Tory Taylor was a second team selection by the AP. He averaged more than 45 yards per kick and downed punts inside the 20-yard line 32 times.

Iowa also has a quality kicker. Freshman Drew Stevens was 16-of-18 this fall, including 2-of-2 from 50+ yards. His 88.9 field goal kicking percentage was the most accurate in all of the Big Ten.

A New Starting Quarterback

Spencer Petras suffered a season-ending injury and Alex Padilla entered the transfer portal, leaving Iowa with Joe Labas. Similar to Kentucky’s Destin Wade, the first-time starter can use his legs.

“We’ve added some stuff to the playbook that we haven’t ran ever,” Labas said. “It’s pretty good. I feel very confident about it, and I’m excited about it.”

Talented Tight End

You’ll never believe this, but Iowa has an awesome tight end. Last year Sam LaPorta caught seven passes for 122 yards and a 36-yard touchdown against Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl. This year he was named Big Ten Tight End of the Year and was one of three finalists for the Mackey Award after he caught 53 passes for 601 yards and a touchdown.

Iowa’s First Music City Bowl

The Hawkeyes accepted a bid to play in the 2020 game against Missouri, but it was canceled by COVID-19. Iowa is 17-16-1 all-time in bowl games, they’ve been bowl eligible in 21 of the last 22 seasons and Ferentz has won nine bowl games, the second-most in Big Ten history. The Hawkeyes have only played Kentucky once. We remember how that all unfolded.