It's Holiday For The Hawkeyes
It had just been a couple of hours since Iowa had found out its bowl destination.
But defensive coordinator Phil Parker already knew what the Hawkeyes would face against USC in the Dec. 27 Holiday Bowl in San Diego.
The Trojans were pass-happy during their 8-4 season, ranking fifth in the nation in passing offense at 335.9 yards per game.
Freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis threw for 3,242 yards and 28 touchdowns in 11 games this season. Wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., had 95 catches for 1,222 yards. Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tyler Vaughns each had 68 receptions and six touchdowns.
Parker said he hadn't had a chance to study the Trojans yet.
But he knows.
"I do keep an eye out," Parker said Sunday. "Sometimes I get home late some nights and start watching them out there. They have some athletes. We'll get on it soon enough. You had to bring that up with the first question ... it's definitely a challenge."
"I definitely can't wait," safety Geno Stone said. "It's an opportunity to get the ball in my hands, and make a play.
"I like when teams run the ball, too. But at the same time, I can show people my ability on the back end when they throw the ball. I love getting my hands on the ball all the time, get a turnover, become an offensive player. When teams pass the ball, I love that."
USC closed the season with five wins in its last six games, including a 52-35 win over UCLA in which Slovis threw for 515 yards and four touchdowns.
"Those are some crazy numbers," Stone said.
It is Iowa's first Holiday Bowl trip since 1991, when the Hawkeyes tied with BYU, 13-13. The Hawkeyes have made three trips to San Diego, with wins over San Diego State in 1986 and Wyoming in 1987.
The Hawkeyes (9-3) were in the Holiday Bowl mix since the end of the regular season, but it was unclear where they were going until early Sunday afternoon, once it was determined that Ohio State would be in the College Football Playoff, Wisconsin was going to the Rose Bowl, and Penn State was going to the Cotton Bowl.
Once it was announced Michigan would be going to the Citrus Bowl, the Holiday Bowl was the obvious option.
Iowa athletics director Gary Barta was in Dallas as part of the College Football Playoff selection committee, and received the bowl invitation on Sunday afternoon.
"So the bowl process is interesting, as you all might imagine," said assistant athletics director Barbara Burke. "We start to look at a variety of opportunities that we have, and it really wasn't until about between 2:30 and 2:45 that Gary was able to give us a call and tell us that we had been invited officially to the Holiday Bowl."
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz was not at Sunday's press conference — he was in New England to watch his son, James, who plays for the Patriots, in Sunday's game against Kansas City.
It's the second time the Hawkeyes and Trojans will meet in a bowl game — USC won, 38-17, in the 2003 Orange Bowl.
The Hawkeyes have played just one bowl game in California since 1991— the 2016 Rose Bowl. Four of the last six bowl appearances for Iowa have been in Florida.
"It's something different," quarterback Nate Stanley said. "But we're looking forward to it."
The Hawkeyes will head to San Diego on Dec. 21, with less preparation time than they have had in recent years. They will depart a day after finals end.
"Really what we're going to be doing is really practicing Iowa against Iowa," Parker said of the upcoming practice schedule. "We won't really get into the game plan until about 10 days, maybe nine days before the game and start preparing and start looking at them and understand what they are and what we have to do. But I think our kids understand that. They have finals to go through here. It's going to be a tough situation for them.
"But it's just like any other day for them when they have to go to school, they've got to go to class and they've got exams, and then I think once we get out there and focus more on the game plan completely, it'll be a good time for those guys."
