Cheez-It Citrus Bowl

No. 17 Iowa (10-3) vs. No. 21 Tennessee (8-4)

Noon CST Monday (ABC)

Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida

1 Game has featured more than 26 points for Iowa during the 2023 season. Every other team in the nation has had at least two games with 27 or more points, and Tennessee has had seven. Iowa’s 41-10 victory over Western Michigan on Sept. 16 is the only game this season in which the Hawkeyes scored more than 26 points. Iowa had seven games in 2023 in which it scored no more than 15 points, tied with Akron and Kent State for the most in the nation. Only three teams in the nation have a smaller scoring average this season than Iowa’s 16.6 points per game. Tennessee has allowed an average of 22.0 points per game this season.

3 Previous meetings for Iowa and Tennessee. The Hawkeyes defeated the Volunteers 28-22 in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 31, 1982, and Tennessee defeated Iowa 23-22 on Aug. 30, 1987, in the Kick-off Classic in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and 45-28 in the TaxSlayer Bowl on Jan. 2, 2015.

6 Citrus Bowl appearances for Tennessee when the Volunteers take the field on Monday, tying for the most in the game’s history, even though they’re playing in the game for the first time in 22 years. Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan and Penn State also have appeared in the Citrus Bowl six times. Tennessee has a 4-1 record in the game, tied with Georgia and Michigan for the most Citrus Bowl victories. The Volunteers defeated Maryland 30-23 on Dec. 17, 1983, Ohio State 20-14 on Jan. 1, 1996, Northwestern 48-28 on Jan. 1, 1997, and Michigan 45-17 on Jan. 1, 2002, and lost to Penn State 31-13 on Jan. 1, 1994.

6 Victories and seven losses for Iowa against SEC opponents. All the meetings except one have come in bowls. On Aug. 30, 1987, Iowa lost to Tennessee 23-22 in the Kickoff Classic in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Hawkeyes’ only regular-season meeting with an SEC opponent. Iowa’s most recent game against an SEC opponent is a 21-0 victory over Kentucky in the Music Bowl on Dec. 31, 2022.

7 Rushing TDs for RB Dylan Sampson on 86 carries to tie for the Tennessee lead this season. Sampson is expected to be the Volunteers’ top running back on Monday with Jaylen Wright and Jabari Smith skipping the game. In 2023, Wright ran for 1,013 yards and four TDs on 137 carries and Smith ran for 475 yards and two TDs on 95 carries. Sampson has 471 rushing yards this season.

10 Bowl wins for Iowa under coach Kirk Ferentz, who is tied with former Penn State coach Joe Paterno for the most bowl victories as a Big Ten coach. In his 25th season as Iowa’s coach, Ferentz has been in his position longer than any other current NCAA FBS coach and has compiled a 10-9 bowl mark.

11 Victories and five losses for Tennessee against Big Ten opponents in bowls. The Volunteers have one game against a Big Ten opponent that didn’t come in a bowl – a 23-22 victory over Iowa in the Kick-off Classic on Aug. 30, 1987, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Tennessee’s most recent game against a Big Ten opponent is a 48-45 loss to Purdue in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30, 2021. The Vols’ most recent victory over a Big Ten opponent came by a 23-22 score against Indiana in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 2, 2020. Overall, Tennessee has a 30-25 record in bowl play.

15 TDs have been scored against Iowa this season. Only Michigan, with 14, has yielded fewer touchdowns than the Hawkeyes in 2023. Iowa ranks fourth nationally in scoring defense with an average of 13.2 points allowed per game while yielding an average of 274.8 yards per game – 102.5 rushing and 172.3 passing. The Hawkeyes have held each of their past 27 opponents to fewer than 400 yards. Tennessee has averaged 31.5 points and 453.5 yards – 202.6 rushing and 250.9 passing – per game in 2023.

16 Completions this season for Nico Iamaleava, who is expected to start at quarterback for Tennessee after Joe Milton III opted out. Milton completed 229-of-345 passes for 2,813 yards with 20 TDs and five interceptions and ran for 299 yards and seven TDs on 78 carries in 2023. Iamaleava has completed 16-of-26 passes for 163 yards with one TD and no interceptions during his freshman season.

18 Victories, 16 losses and one tie for Iowa in bowls. The Hawkeyes have made two previous appearances in the Citrus Bowl. Iowa defeated LSU 30-25 on Jan. 1, 2005, when the game was called the Capital One Bowl, and lost to Kentucky 20-17 on Jan. 1, 2022.

24 Victories, 14 losses and one tie for SEC teams in the Citrus Bowl and its predecessors — the Tangerine Bowl, Florida Citrus Bowl and Capital One Bowl. Big Ten teams have a 13-18 record in the game. The SEC has a 19-11 record when playing a Big Ten opponent in the game, with LSU beating Purdue 63-7 in last season’s game.

25 Victories and one loss for Tennessee under coach Josh Heupel when the Volunteers are ahead at halftime. Tennessee is 1-11 under Heupel when it hasn’t led at halftime. The lone loss came on Oct. 21 in a 34-20 setback against Alabama, which Tennessee led 20-7 at halftime. The lone victory came in the game before that – a 20-13 victory over Texas A&M in which the Vols had a 10-7 deficit.

50 Starts have been made at Tennessee by S Jaylen McCullough, tied for the most in school history with CB Jonathan Hefney, who started 50 games from 2004 through 2007.

53 Percent of Iowa RB Leshon Williams came in three of his 13 games this season. Williams ran for 145 yards against Western Michigan on Sept. 16, 174 against Wisconsin on Oct. 14 and 111 against Nebraska on Nov. 24. That accounted for 430 of the 804 yards for the Hawkeyes’ leading rusher this season, who had five games with 25 or fewer rushing yards in 2023. Williams has 164 carries and one TD run this season.

86 Punts by Iowa’s Tory Taylor this season, six more than any other player in the nation. Taylor has averaged 47.9 yards per punt, the third-best in the nation, to give him 4,119 punt yards – 536 more than any other player in the nation in 2023. The 2023 Ray Guy Award winner, Taylor joined CB Cooper DeJean as consensus All-Americans for Iowa this season, but DeJean won’t play in the Citrus Bowl.

155 Tackles for Iowa LB Jay Higgins this season, 35 more than any other player in the Big Ten in 2023.

239.3 Yards for Iowa’s offense this season, the worst average in the nation. The Hawkeyes have averaged 116.1 rushing yards and 123.2 passing yards per game. The Tennessee defense has allowed an average of 348.7 yards – 113.8 rushing and 234.9 passing – in 2023.

258 Pounds is the weight of Iowa QB Deacon Hill. The 6-foot-3 quarterback has started eight game this season and completed 115-of-233 passes for 1,096 yards with five TDs and six interceptions.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.