The New Year begins with the iowa Hawkeyes looking to put the finishing touch on what has been a football turnaround.
At the start of 2015 Iowa was in Jacksonville, Florida for the Taxslayer Bowl. A sea of orange-clad fans pouring into the stadium in Jacksonville was a foreshadowing of the rush of points the Tennessee Volunteers would score against the Hawkeyes in a 45-28 loss.
Shortly after the game things started to turn around with the release of a rare January depth chart that had C.J. Beathard listed in the top quarterback slot. That news brought hope to Hawkeye fans that changes were going to be made, but what happened next, almost no one predicted. Twelve straight wins:
Iowa 31, Illinois State14
Iowa 31, Iowa State 17
Iowa 27, Pittsburgh 24
Iowa 62, North Texas 16
Iowa 10, Wisconsin 6
Iowa 29, Illinois 20
Iowa 40, Northwestern 10
Iowa 31, Maryland 15
Iowa 35, Indiana 27
Iowa 40, Minnesota 35
Iowa 40, Purdue 20
Iowa 28, Nebraska 20
The perfect regular season vaulted Iowa into the National Championship picture, and that dreamed stayed alive until the very last seconds of a 16-13 loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten title game.
The next best thing to moving on in the playoffs, a berth in the Rose Bowl, came next. Iowa fans have responded, with thousands traveling to California.
Today the Hawkeyes take the field in Pasadena for the first time in 25 years looking to cap off the season that surprised everyone.
The weather is supposed to be 64 and sunny. Kickoff is 4:10 Iowa time.
Game Day set near Iowa end zone.