The 2024 Citrus Bowl features the 10-3 Iowa Hawkeyes against the 8-4 Tennessee Volunteers. Here is the 2024 Citrus Bowl Preview.
Iowa Hawkeyes (10-3)
Iowa won 10 games to make their 11th straight bowl game. They defeated four bowl-eligible teams this season: Iowa State, Wisconsin, Northwestern and Rutgers. All three losses were to bowl-eligible teams (although Minnesota did finish the regular season with a 5-7 record).
The Hawkeyes score 16.6 points per game, ranking 130th in the country. They pass for 123.2 yards (ranked 130th) and rush for 117.1 yards per game (ranked 109th).
After Cade McNamara was lost for the season, Deacon Hill took over at quarterback. He passed for 1,096 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions on 49.4 percent completion. Two players had at least 200 receiving yards this season for the Hawkeyes. One of those players is Erick All, who is out for the season. The other is Nico Ragaini who finished the regular season with 29 catches for 252 yards.
Three running backs handle most of the work for the Hawkeyes. Leshon Williams leads the team with 804 rushing yards and one touchdowns. Behind him, Kaleb Johnson and Jaziun Patterson have contributed 429 and 199 rushing yards, respectively.
Defensively, the Hawkeyes allow 13.2 points per game, ranking fourth in the country. They concede 102.5 rushing yards (ranked 13th) and 172.2 passing yards per game (ranked eighth). Jay Higgins leads the team with 155 total tackles. Joe Evans has the team-high with 5.5 sacks. Sebastian Castro has been impressive in the secondary with eight passes defended and three interceptions.
Tennessee Volunteers (8-4)
Tennessee won eight games to make their fifth straight bowl game. They defeated three bowl-eligible teams this season: UTSA, Texas A&M and Kentucky. They lost one game to a team that didn’t make a bowl-game: Florida.
The Volunteers score 31.5 points per game, ranking 39th in the country. They pass for 250.9 yards (ranked 47th) and rush for 202.6 yards per game (ranked 12th).
Joe Milton took over the starting quarterback job this season for the Volunteers. He has passed for 2,813 yards, 20 touchdowns and five interceptions on 64.7 percent completion this season. Five receivers had at least 200 yards on the year. Squirrel White leads the team with 764 receiving yards and also has two touchdowns. Ramel Keyton has also been effective with 591 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
The Volunteers have four players with at least 200 rushing yards on the season. Leading rusher Jaylen Wright has opted out of this game. Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson have been good this season with 475 and 471 yards respectively. Milton has 299 rushing yards and seven touchdowns from the quarterback position as well.
On defense, Tennessee allows 22 points per game, ranking them 37th in the country. They give up 113.8 rushing yards (ranked 23rd) and 234.9 receiving yards per game (ranked 81st). Linebacker Elijah Herring has led the team with 75 total tackles. James Pearce Jr. paces the team with 8.5 sacks. Kamal Hadden has made plays on the ball with seven passes defended and three interceptions.
Prediction
Iowa doesn’t have the offensive output to keep up with Tennesee. The Volunteers will run the ball, but can also create big plays that will make it tough for the Hawkeyes to keep up.
Tennessee Volunteers 24 Iowa Hawkeyes 10
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- Source: https://thegamehaus.com/college-football/2024-citrus-bowl-preview/2023/12/19/
