Iowa got the ball back two plays later. South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia threw an interception to safety Tyler Sash, who returned the ball 29 yards to the Gamecocks’ 18 yard-line. Five plays later, running back Shonn Greene blasted in from the 1-yard line to put Iowa ahead 14-0.

Two plays into the Gamecocks’ next drive, Garcia scrambled and was crushed by defensive end Christian Ballard. The ball squirted free, and Iowa linebacker A.J. Edds recovered.

KEY STATS: Iowa ran 22 plays to South Carolina’s six. Iowa had 11:09 in time of possession.

SECOND QUARTER

The second period continued South Carolina’s turnover trend. Garcia threw toward the end zone, but cornerback Bradley Fletcher picked off the pass, giving Iowa the ball on a touchback.

Iowa then marched 80 yards in nine plays. The Hawkeyes faced one third down and converted that one easily. Stanzi scrambled 11 yards to the South Carolina 1-yard line on a play ruled initially a touchdown. Greene finished the drive with a 1-yard TD run for a 21-0 lead.

Sash intercepted Garcia again but fumbled on the return, which Iowa recovered. Iowa couldn’t convert, however, as Stanzi’s pass to Tony Moeaki in the end zone was picked off by Chris Culliver.

KEY PLAY: Fletcher’s interception killed a decent South Carolina drive and further deflated the Gamecocks on offense. It preserved a 14-0 lead for Iowa.

THIRD QUARTER

On South Carolina’s first play from scrimmage, quarterback Chris Smelley completed an 8-yard pass to Moe Brown, who fumbled when hit by Fletcher. Edds recovered to give Iowa the ball at the Gamecocks’ 43.

Iowa drove 42 yards in 10 plays but was stranded at the 1-yard line. Running back Jewel Hampton appeared to have fumbled at the goal line, but replays ruled him down at the 1. Twice Greene tried to punch it in but was stopped. Iowa settled for an 18-yard Daniel Murray field goal.

Iowa scored its final touchdown on the quarter’s final play. Greene rumbled through the defense for an 11-yard touchdown, effectively sealing the game and cementing his legacy at Iowa.

KEY PLAY: Greene scored his 20th touchdown this season on a play similar to many others, breaking tackles, eluding defenders and scoring points. It was his final carry as an Iowa football player.

FOURTH QUARTER

South Carolina finally got on the board. The Gamecocks drove to the Iowa 10, where Smelley completed a 10-yard pass to tight end Jared Cook with 13:35 left in the quarter.

Jewel Hampton replaced Greene in Iowa’s backfield and ran five times for 25 yards on the next drive. Ryan Donahue punted for the first time, ending the drive.

South Carolina scored on a 48-yard field goal with 2:02 left.

“Tried to put a few points up; 31-10 looks better than 31-7,” South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier said afterward.

KEY PLAY: Iowa backup quarterback Jake Christensen ended the game on the field, handing the ball to Jared Oberland, who rumbled 5 yards to finish the Iowa victory.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Greene leads Iowa to Outback win, off to NFL
• Greene Leads Iowa Past South Carolina in Outback
• Greene, Hawkeyes crush Gamecocks in Outback

This was the same red-shirt freshman safety who took the blame for a big bomb against Michigan State. This was a first-year player who learned on the job most of the season. This was what happens when you get a little confidence.

This was big-time progress for Tyler Sash.

Sash sparked Iowa’s defense Thursday with two interceptions in the Hawkeyes‘ 31-10 Outback Bowl victory over South Carolina. His first pick set up a touchdown. His second should have - he returned it 45 yards - but Iowa threw it right back.

Sash might be the Hawkeyes most improved player from game 1 to the bowl.

“You guys saw it as the season unfolded,” linebacker A.J. Edds said. “From his first start to now, he’s come miles. That’s what you want out of young guys. You want them learning and getting better every week. That’s what’s happened for Tyler.”

Iowa defensive coordinator Norm Parker played straight up 4-3, with a few 3-4 packages, with two deep safeties. Sash simply kept receivers in front of him and broke on the ball. Quarterback Stephen Garcia was making just his third career start. He locked in early on receivers and made it easy.

“I just came out every week and every day and tried to improve,” said Sash, who tied middle linebacker Pat Angerer for the team lead with five interceptions this season. “That’s all I could really do.”

Iowa’s defense came up with three interceptions Thursday, raising the season total to 23 and tying the school record. Sash’s two interceptions tied the Outback record set by South Carolina’s Deandre Eiland (2001) and Penn State’s Anthony King (1999).

Emotional departure

Iowa defensive linemen Matt Kroul and Mitch King, long the soul and heart of Iowa’s defense, finished their careers with heavy emotion and few regrets.

Both met the media the final time as Hawkeyes and reflected on their era, which became a blur in the midst of cheers and tears.

“I think I let them (emotions) out back there, so you know,” said Kroul, a Mount Vernon native. “You knew it was going to come to an end four years ago, so I knew it was going to happen, and now it’s here. I’m glad I went out this way, and I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.”

Kroul started his 50th consecutive game - a school record - and best in the Big Ten. He recorded four tackles and finished with 238, No. 32 all-time at Iowa. He was a captain for all 13 games this year.

“I always said it’s kind of slow in the moment when you’re going through 95 degrees in camp,” he said. “Then you play 50 games and, yeah, you look back and it went fast. I’ll miss it.”

King, who provided the vocal inspiration for this team, ended his career as the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year and a second-team All-American.

“I kind of wish I could sit around and soak it in a little longer because obviously it’s my last time in this situation,” said King, who became emotional. “It’s going to be a tough one … fly home with the team tomorrow. See how it goes.”

King, like Kroul, was a team captain for all 13 games. The Burlington native had 228 career tackles, including 17.5 sacks. He recorded two tackles Thursday.

It might have produced the perfect ending, but it wasn’t the game King will remember.

“In 10 years from now you could probably ask me this question, what games I remember, what specific plays and I could probably give you a handful of them, what scores,” he said. “I’ll tell you one thing, I’ll never forget the memories these guys have given me and the past years, ever since I came on campus until we scatter out of the Iowa City area and start our family. I’ll never forget these memories. They were the time of my life.”

- Scott Dochterman

Looking back

Iowa finished 9-4 and won six of its final seven games. The four losses were decided by 12 total points.

Players have avoided pointing at those games for how high the Hawkeyes could have climbed this year. But they can’t avoid thinking about pivotal moments that cost them a higher bowl, a better ranking, maybe even a league title.

“I’ll be thinking about that the rest of my life,” Kroul said. “That’s the way football is. If you’re going to lose those close games, you’re going to win those close games. We lost four close ones.”

Iowa lost at Pittsburgh 21-20. Iowa committed five turnovers in a 22-17 loss to Northwestern. Several plays and mistakes cost Iowa games at Michigan State (16-13) and Illinois (27-24).

“It’s tough,” Edds said. “Sure there have been a couple of games, a couple of plays that we’d like to have back, but that’s why you play the game. I’m sure Penn State is saying the same thing about us right now.”

Iowa lineman Seth Olsen uses tunnel vision to avoid looking back at those losses.

“I don’t play that game with myself,” Olsen said. “Just don’t’ do it, because it’s dangerous. Wouldas, couldas, shouldas can really tear you down and there’s no point getting in that dwelled up on that.”

- Scott Dochterman

Quick slants

Edds announced he will have surgery on his shoulder in the off-season. He doesn’t think it’ll be serious. He doesn’t know if this will knock him out of spring practice.

“It’s just a little fix-up,” he said. “Quick rehab time, I shouldn’t miss a whole lot. They’re going to take care of some stuff that’s been nagging a little bit.”

Going into Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl between Ohio State and Texas, the Hawkeyes are the Big Ten’s lone bowl winner. The Big Ten’s bowl record stands at 1-5.

That’s what might have made Iowa’s victory over the SEC extra sweet for the Hawkeyes.

“If our wide receivers got away from them, I guess that SEC speed will catch up,” said center Rob Bruggeman, referencing the whole speed-power thing that was done to death this week. “I guess it didn’t this time.”

The Hawkeyes recorded their first nine-win season since 2004. Iowa has won nine or more games 12 times, with five of those coming under Coach Kirk Ferentz.

“They should give him a contract and leave it blank,” guard Julian Vandervelde said. “Let him coach at Iowa until he’s done coaching.”

Related articles by Zemanta

• Greene leads Iowa to Outback win, off to NFL
• Iowa coach Ferentz suspends son after citation
• Iowa’s Ferentz suspends son for drinking underage

55, 117 - Game attendance. Iowa sports information director Phil Haddy estimated 20,000 were Iowa fans.

9 - Wins for Iowa this year, fifth time under Coach Kirk Ferentz won nine or more games.

20 - Rushing touchdowns for Iowa RB Shonn Greene, the new Iowa single-season record

43 - Rushing yards by South Carolina. It set a new low in Outback Bowl history.
86 - Consecutive points by Iowa before South Carolina scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Iowa beat Minnesota 55-0 and led South Carolina 31-0 before the TD.

121 - Yards for Greene in his final game as a Hawkeye. Greene announced after the game that he is skipping his senior year and wil enter the NFL Draft.

REPORT CARD

A - Shonn, I’ve got this can’t-miss idea for a chinchilla farm. I just need about 10 grand. - Marc Morehouse

A - Very nice season, very good team. - Mike Hlas
A - Does drubbing rhyme with seal clubbing? - Scott Dochterman

NEXT GAME
Iowa opens the 2009 season on Sept. 5 in Kinnick Stadium against in-state rival Northern Iowa at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. It should be an interesting opener with the FBS Panthers coming off a 12-3 season, losing in the FBS semifinals to eventual national champion Richmond and Iowa coming off a 9-4 finish and an Outback Bowl victory.

Bowl MVP

Iowa RB Shonn Greene. For the final time in his Iowa career, Greene powered past defenses for more than 100 yards. He rolled over, past and around South Carolina defenders for 121 yards and three touchdowns.

Greene, a junior, declared for the NFL draft following the game. He set Iowa bowl records with 29 carries, three TDs and 18 total points. He finished his career with 1,850 yards, Iowa’s best ever, and was named the Doak Walker Award winner as the nation’s top running back.

Even with the accolades, Greene felt he had something to prove. Especially against South Carolina.

“For them to talk about him being just another back and for him to take it down and punch it in a few times, it kind of them jolted them a little,” Iowa linebacker A.J. Edds said.

Greene was tabbed the game MVP afterward.

D-flating

Iowa’s slammed South Carolina from the outset. On South Carolina’s second play, Iowa safety Tyler Sash intercepted a pass and returned it 29 yards to the Gamecocks’ 18.

Iowa forced another fumble on its South Carolina’s next possession, with linebacker A.J. Edds recovering. Iowa cornerback Bradley Fletcher intercepted a pass in the end zone, and Sash intercepted another pass on the Gamecocks’ next two possessions. Iowa led off the second half with Fletcher forcing a fumble and Edds recovering it again.

“Our defense, we didn’t change too much. We just (did) what we (did),” Fletcher said. “We were able to execute on some plays and get our offense on the field.”

Game changing plays

1 - On South Carolina’s second offensive play from scrimmage, Sash picked off an overthrown Stephen Garcia pass and returned it 29 yards to the 18. Iowa punched it in five plays later to take a 14-0 lead.

2 - Early in the second quarter, Garcia threw along the right sideline for wide receiver Jason Barnes. Fletcher cut in front of Barnes and picked off the pass in the end zone, preserving the 14-0 lead and further deflating the Gamecocks.

3 - On Iowa’s first series, quarterback Rick Stanzi converted three third-and-long passes to Brandon Myers to get first downs. Throwing to the tight end apparently surprised the South Carolina defense.

“They got us off balance doing a little trickeration with the tight end and putting them in the slot, having us think (he) was another receiver,” South Carolina cornerback Munnerlyn said. “They did a lot of trickeration and just pounded us. Right at us.”

NFL hopes

Lost in the midst of Greene’s announcement to forgo his senior season to enter the NFL draft, several Iowa seniors played their final game and have professional hopes of their own.

Defensive tackles Matt Kroul and Mitch King talked about training in Iowa City with strength coach Chris Doyle. Both said they were going to take a week or so off to relax before preparing for their futures.

“If I do choose to pursue my NFL deal, which I don’t know, obviously Chris Doyle would be my first choice,” King said. “There’s no other choice for me. Chris Doyle is genius. I have the utmost respect for him, and there’s no other place for me to train.”

Several NFL players, including Oakland offensive lineman Robert Gallery, return to Iowa to train with Doyle following their season. That’s an inspiration to players like King and Kroul who hope to continue their football careers with a paycheck.

“(Doyle is) one of the best in the country,” Kroul said. “I think he’s giving us a week off and then get started working out. Hopefully there’s an option somewhere, and I can keep playing this game as long as I can.”

Iowa vs. SEC

Iowa is one of the few Big Ten teams that don’t succumb often to the all-powerful SEC in bowl play. Iowa has won four of its six bowl match-ups with SEC teams, with both losses coming against Florida. Iowa has beaten South Carolina (Outback), Florida (Outback), Louisiana State (Capital One) and Tennessee (Peach) in bowl games, while losing to Florida in the 1983 Gator Bowl and in the 2006 Outback Bowl.

The league comparison is something that chaps Iowa players, who’ve heard for too long that the SEC has too many athletes with too much speed for their Big Ten neighbors.

“(South Carolina) had athletes, but we had athletes, too,” Edds said. “I think you take a guy like (Penn State receiver) Derrick Williams and you put him in a track meet with anybody in the country and they’re going to win. (Illinois receiver) Arrelious Benn and guys like that. We know what speed looks like on the field, and we’ve got some guys that are maybe faster than we give credit for. So we knew it was out there for us, but we had to take it and make sure we made our lack of speed and made it an advantage for us.”
Munnerlyn said there was a difference between Iowa and other SEC teams.
“I wouldn’t say they was as much physical as they just different from the SEC. They’re going to try to pound you, pound you, pound you. But they weren’t all that physical but they were a great team.

Around the horn

The Gazette’s live blog had posters from Senegal to Iraq, Germany to Washington. Here’s a sampling of the best comments:

“I’m still waiting to see the awesome speed from S.C. Haven’t seen much yet.”

“Gen. Sherman just said to put down the torches, Iowa. They’ve had enough.”

“Watching the Hawks kick some from the desert-like terrain of Northern Senegal, West Africa … nothing better.”

“Greetings, all … in a war zone, but found a way to get on the Hlog! Happy New Year! Go Hawks!”

Battered and bruised

Iowa wide receiver Trey Stross broke a collarbone that likely will require surgery. No other Iowa injuries were noticeable.

Quotable

“We had a whole bunch of penalties, we had a whole bunch of, aw (expletive deleted), we had a whole bunch of stuff.” - South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier

“We know we have to win that whole month of December if you want to win a bowl game. So we had a pretty good month of it, good preparation and it carried over to the field.” - Iowa guard Seth Olsen

“That’s the reason you play, that’s the reason you go out there and play 12 or whatever it is every year because you never know what’s going to happen, any given day you can beat anybody and it’s exemplified throughout the season for us.” - Iowa defensive tackle Matt Kroul

The 30-25 win over LSU in Orlando four years ago souped up hype for 2005 that never came close to fruition. It was the last thing to happen to the Hawkeyes‘ program that was both big and good, until this season.

On the first day of January 2009, Iowa won a bowl against another SEC team. It wasn’t by plucking it out of the sky with a last-second miracle, but by using 60 minutes of substance. Rock-solid substance.

It won’t make the kind of instant lore that Drew Tate-to-Warren Holloway created, and it won’t become a poster that will hang on walls of rec rooms in Iowa homes for decades.

But you know what? It’s better.

The Hawkeyes brought Hawkeye football to Raymond James Stadium Thursday, at the expense of a completely outmanned, outworked South Carolina squad. The score was 31-10. The game was over well before halftime.

Iowa didn’t surprise Steve Spurrier’s team a bit with what it did on either side of the ball. It just did it. And did it, and did it, and did it.

It was Kirk Ferentz football. It was Hawkeye football. Like all programs, Iowa’s is a fragile ecosystem. But when Ferentz’s players are the right ones and of the right minds, as they were in 2001 through 2004, the system works.

“We had a dip at the end of the 2006 season,” Ferentz said after Thursday’s triumph. “I’ve said many times on record that it’s probably the toughest six weeks I’ve gone through.”

Iowa went from 5-1 to 6-6 that fall, losing its last five Big Ten games. It began a two-year run of genuinely mediocre football accompanied by off-field problems that were far worse than the losing. Ferentz made a lot of most-overpaid coaches’ lists. His name and “hot seat” shared a lot of sentences.

Back in Iowa, you no longer saw a halo over the coach’s head. It looked like we might be watching a man spinning his wheels as some of his players tarnished the reputation of the program and university with some bad trouble away from the stadium.

So what did Ferentz do? Fire some assistants, abandon his beliefs, turn away from the core of who he was and what he had established in search of a quick fix?

Nah. The guy is old-school in a lot of ways, and dealing with problems with common sense and focus rather than throwing people under a bus is one of them. Getting players to represent their school better on and off the gridiron was another.

It sounds like cornball stuff, sure. But it is Iowa, after all.

The Hawkeyes were 3-3 halfway through this regular-season. Why no blame-games from players? Why no cave-in from a team that knew too well what it was like to see a season disintegrate?

“I think it’s just been responding,” said senior center Rob Bruggeman, the subject of quarterback Rick Stanzi’s raves (”Great line calls. He makes everything easier.”) after the game.

“You never focus on the negative and just try to turn it into a positive,” Bruggeman said. “We had a stretch where we lost three games in the middle of the season, and there was never a negative attitude in the locker room. Nobody was pointing fingers.

“I think it started in the off-season. We came together as a team, decided we weren’t going to get down on each other, we were going to stay positive the whole season. We just focused on that.”

The right attitude requires putting in the work, 12 months per year. Iowa has always had to labor harder than many BCS conference programs to reach the Top 25. That has to be something that is understood and embraced. But it’s tough to pull off, anywhere.

“It takes a lot of work,” said another stellar senior Hawkeye offensive lineman, Seth Olsen. He sat on a chair in the bowels of the stadium Thursday and quietly basked in the satisfaction of a game well played and a year well spent.

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard,” Olsen said. “That’s one of the quotes in our program. That’s obviously true for us.”

Credit from one Hawkeye to another flowed like Gatorade after the game.

“Our offensive line came together tremendously since last year,” said senior Brandon Myers, who will probably become another Iowa tight end to graduate to the NFL. “I knew that right away in camp. Shonn wouldn’t have done what he did without this group.”

Ah yes, Shonn. That’s Shonn Greene. You know him. The nation got introduced to him too late for a trip to the Heisman Trophy ceremony, but he was everybody’s All-America.

Greene was Greene again Thursday. The yards, the first-downs, the bludgeoning of a defense, and a ninth Iowa win. Then he announced he was turning pro. It was decent of him, really, to say it now and let everyone move on right away.

For the umpteenth time, Greene praised his blockers. He took it beyond that at the team’s postseason banquet last month, asking Iowa’s offensive linemen to join him when he received his team co-MVP award.

“Phenomenal,” Olsen said about Greene.

That covers it in a word, but Olsen added: “He flatters us. He made us look good this year, too.”

Oh, Iowa’s defense had a rather productive season itself, allowing a mere 13 points and 94 rushing yards per game and bowing out with domination over a Steve Spurrier-coached offense.

“It’s been a great year,” Ferentz said. “I just told the team I can’t remember one that was more enjoyable. That includes the championship years. This was a championship in its own right. It feels pretty good.

“This is a team I’ll remember for a long time.”

This was a football team again. Hawkeye football is again substantial.

Iowa probably won’t be ranked higher than 20th in next week’s final AP poll. But are there as many as 10 teams in the nation that are better?

I don’t think so. South Carolina probably doesn’t, either.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Greene leads Iowa to Outback win, off to NFL
• Greene, Hawkeyes crush Gamecocks in Outback

Shonn Greene punched in for one blazing, brilliant season and so now he’s turning pro. Thursday’s Outback Bowl fell into nothing-to-prove mode after about the first 10 minutes.

The Hawkeyes (9-4) punched in for maybe one and a half blazing, brilliant quarters and beat the Gamecock decals of the helmets of a disinterested, undisciplined and just plain awful South Carolina (7-6) outfit.

Greene was named the game’s MVP after rushing for 121 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Hawkeyes turn five Carolina turnovers into 17 points in a 31-10 victory before 55,117 mostly Iowa fans at Raymond James Stadium.

Greene is gone; that’s the big news. He announced his decision in interviews as he walked off the field.

An NFL scout who attended an Iowa practice here Hawkeye people he didn’t see Greene falling past the 20th pick in April’s NFL draft. That’s a contract in the five-year, $12 million range with $7 million guaranteed.

That’s just sound, sound logic.

“I didn’t know,” said Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz, who was the first to touch the Outback Bowl trophy, which, with the Super Bowl in town this year, looked a lot like the Vince Lombardi Trophy only with a boomerang stuck on it. “He told me walking down the hall to this.

“He’s such a great team member. He thinks so right. He’s going to be an extremely valuable and a great asset to any team that’s smart enough to take him next year.”

Ferentz is at the center of the other NFL story line. Ferentz was linked this week to Patriots personnel executive Scott Pioli, a longtime Ferentz friend. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Thursday that Pioli is under no deadline to make a decision on a head coach.

“Nothing, no news,” Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta barked on the sidelines.

That was basically what happened after the first quarter.

Nothing, no news.

The Hawkeyes took the first drive and marched 64 yards on 13 plays for a 7-0 lead on quarterback Ricky Stanzi’s 6-yard pass to wide receiver Trey Stross, who later broke his collarbone.

The Hawkeyes did everything they wanted to do on the drive against the Gamecocks’ best foot forward, their 12th-ranked defense. With nine defenders planted on the line of scrimmage, Greene still managed 25 yards on seven carries. Stanzi found tight end Brandon Myers for first downs on third-and-8, third-and-5 and another third-and-8.

“We were able to capitalize on a lot of things because of Shonn,” Stanzi said. “They have to come down and respect him. They bring guys into the box and they overload a certain side, it gives us a lot of room to call a lot of plays. We gave them a steady diet of run and pass.”

On the Gamecocks’ second play, quarterback Stephen Garcia floated the ball into the deep middle, where safety Tyler Sash picked off the first of his two interceptions and returned it 29 yards to SC’s 18.

Five plays later, Greene, who finished the best season for an Iowa back with records for yards (1,850) and rush TDs (20), crashed in from the 1 for a 14-0 lead with 4:41 left in the first quarter.

“We had a whole bunch of penalties, we had a whole bunch of, aw shoot, we had a whole bunch of stuff,” Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier said. “I feel for our fans who came down here and spent a whole lot of money. Give Iowa credit for kicking our tails today.”

Garcia teed up one up for the Hawkeyes again, underthrowing a receiver with cornerback Bradley Fletcher swooping in and intercepting in the end zone.

Iowa went 80 yards on nine plays, with Greene again smashing in from the 1 for a 21-0 lead with 8:09 left before halftime.

The big play was Stanzi hitting wide-open tight end Tony Moeaki for a 39-yard gain to SC’s 29. Moeaki started the play on a block, an SC linebacker bit hard on the run fake to Greene and that was that.

“This was all defense and offensive line,” Stanzi said. “Hats off to both. They did what they’ve been doing all year. They’ve been solid all year.”

Iowa scored on its first two drives of the second half - Daniel Murray booted an 18-yard field goal, Greene scored on a brilliant 11-yard run - to go up 31-0 and basically put this thing in a sleeper hold.

“We had a chance to show the country what we’re about and we stunk it up again,” SC wide receiver Kenny McKinley said.

The Gamecocks were so one dimensional they made paper look like dynamic geometry.

SC rushed just 14 times for 43 yards. Garcia lasted a half and ended his day 8 of 19 for 79 yards and three picks. He was pulled in the second half in favor of Chris Smelley, who enjoyed some success in sleepy time. At one point in the first half, Iowa had as many TDs (two) as the Gamecocks had plays.

The Hawkeyes’ 23 interceptions this season ties the school record set in 1986.

Defensive tackles Mitch King and Matt Kroul went out the way they wanted to, punching out an opposing offense.

“I keep repeating this, but it really does start with King and Kroul,” said Sash, who tied the Outback record with his two interceptions. “Game in, game out. They set the tempo for the game. We know they’re going to get some pressure on the quarterback and that leads to interceptions for us.

“Those guys are our best friends.”

With about nine minutes left, Hawkeyes players started planning the Gatorade shower for Ferentz. Nine minutes left and it was already Gatorade strategy time. You have to question the spontaneity, though. King said they asked if they could do it.

“We didn’t know how Coach Ferentz would feel about it, especially with all that headset and pricey equipment on,” King said. “I’m just glad I got over there and got a hold of that bucket.”

They got him good. Almost as good as they got Carolina.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Greene leads Iowa to Outback win, off to NFL
• Greene, Hawkeyes crush Gamecocks in Outback
• Greene Leads Iowa Past South Carolina in Outback
• Iowa’s prolific RB Green to enter NFL draft
• Greene to go pro

All-American running back Shonn Greene figures he’s ready for the next level.

After leading Iowa over South Carolina 31-10 Thursday in the Outback Bowl, the Big Ten’s most valuable player said he’ll skip his senior season and enter the NFL draft.

“I don’t think there’s really a lot more I can do here,” Greene said. “People talk about the Heisman, but I think that’s a lot of politics. I don’t like getting caught up in all of that, so I just figure I’ll try my chances.”

Greene ran for 121 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for more than 100 yards in all 13 of Iowa’s games and scored in all but one.

Greene finished with school single-season records of 1,850 yards and 20 TDs, after sitting out the 2007 season because of academic problems,

The 235-pound junior from Sicklerville, N.J., said this week that he planned to meet with his family and consider information from the NFL college advisory committee before making a decision this month on whether to turn pro.

His Outback performance sealed the deal.

Iowa (9-4) won for the sixth time in seven games since losing three straight to fall to 3-3. South Carolina (7-6) lost three straight down the stretch while being outscored 118-30.

Greene scored on a pair of 1-yard runs to help Iowa build a 21-0 halftime lead, then added an 11-yarder to make it 31-0 late in the third quarter. South Carolina scored on Chris Smelley’s 10-yard TD pass to Jared Cook and Ryan Succop’s 48-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

After struggling offensively in lopsided losses to Florida and Clemson, Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier decided to start quarterback Stephen Garcia, a highly regarded redshirt freshman from Tampa who was the centerpiece of his recruiting class in 2007.

But Garcia, who nearly undermined his career by being arrested twice within his first month on campus, turned the ball over four times in the first half and was replaced by Smelley after going 9-for-18 for 79 yards and three interceptions.

The 20-year-old’s homecoming turned sour in a hurry. His first pass was intercepted and returned 29 yards set up an Iowa touchdown, then the dual-threat quarterback fumbled on his first run to give the Gamecocks turnovers on two of their first four offensive plays.

The next two South Carolina possessions ended with interceptions. After Bradley Fletcher picked off Garcia in the end zone, Iowa drove 80 yards to take a 21-0 lead on Greene’s second touchdown.

Ricky Stanzi was intercepted twice before halftime, but neither mistake really hurt the Hawkeyes. Iowa was trying to turn’s Garcia’s third interception into a quick TD when South Carolina’s Chris Culliver made a leaping pick in the end zone.

Smelley, who started nine games for South Carolina this season, replaced Garcia at the start of the second half. Moe Brown fumbled on the quarterback’s first completion to set up an Iowa field goal, but the Gamecocks did have some success moving the ball the rest of the game.

Stanzi was 13-for-19 for 147 yards, including a 6-yard TD throw to Trey Stross on the first drive of the game. Smelley finished 16-of-31 for 179 yards and no interceptions.

By The Gazette photographers Jim Slosiarek and Jonathan D. Woods.

Check back later for a complete bowl game recap!

Video by Jonathan D. Woods.