The Iowa football team has enjoyed over a month of rest since their last game and will be off until the day after Christmas when they meet in Miami to prepare for the Orange Bowl game against U-S-C. Several of the players, including Heisman Trophy runner-up quarterback Brad Banks, have traveled around the country picking up post-season awards. Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz doesn’t think all the praise and awards have been a distraction. He says these are once in a lifetime occurrences, and he’s encouraged the players to take it in a little bit. Ferentz says a little praise is healthy. He says the senior leadership they’ve gotten has been important all season and it’s also helping them focus on the bowl game too.Ferentz says the players are anxious to get back to football and the preparation for the game, but he says it won’t be all work. He says the players know there’s a time to have fun and also a time to get things done. Ferentz expects his players from Florida to be a big help in keeping the team focused, as he says they don’t want to lay an egg in their home state. He says his biggest worry are the freshmen who go to Florida knowing they aren’t going to play and don’t have to be ready.He says the team developed the maturity and accountability, that was need to be a championship team.Ferentz says their opponent will make it easy for the team to focus, as he says the film he’s seen of USC shows them to be an outstanding team.Iowa faces U-S-C in the Orange Bowl on January 2nd.
