The Iowa Hawkeyes are practicing in Jacksonville for the first time, today, as the prepare for the January 2nd Taxslayer Bowl against Tennessee. The Hawkeyes landed in Jacksonville on Christmas Day.
Taxslayer Bowl president Rick Catlett says they are excited about having Iowa at the game and he hopes it is a little better weather when the Hawkeyes played there last in 1983.
The Hawkeyes are 7-5 and are about a field goal underdog to a Tennessee team that finished the regular season 6-6. “Luckily games get decided on the field, I’ve never really worried about that too much are concerned myself about that,” Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz says. He says his team will show up to play.
Hawkeye senior receiver Kevonte Martin-Manly could end his college career with a win ands a new record. Martin-Manley needs only three catches to become Iowa’s all-time leader in receptions. Derrell Johnson-Koulianos holds the current record with 173. “It’s very special to me…it takes a long time, it takes consistency, it takes some luck to be at this point,” Martin-Manly says. He says he really hopes to get the record to leave a legacy after all his hard work.