Due in large to scoring 13 points off turnovers and a stirring day for the Florida defense, the Gators trounced the Iowa Hawkeyes 30-3 in the 2017 Outback Bowl.
Iowa was held to just 55 yards through the air on Tuesday afternoon as the Gators pressed them early and often. Ineffectiveness from the 68th-ranked team in the country in Passing S&P+ brought the Hawkeyes down as Florida’s terrific pass defense stood tall by game’s end.
Florida found themselves behind early after Keith Duncan kicked a field goal to put Iowa up 3-0. From there, the rout was on, as the Gators would go on to put up 30 unanswered points on the Hawkeyes and were rarely threatened by Iowa’s stagnant offense.
Touchdowns would be scored by Mark Thompson and DeAndre Goolsby, both coming off the arm of Austin Appleby who played well enough despite throwing two interceptions. Appleby completed 14 of 25 pass attempts for 222 yards and tacked on the aforementioned two touchdowns.
CJ Beathard meanwhile was largely ineffective. Iowa’s quarterback threw for just 55 yards on 23 attempts, completing just seven passes and was intercepted three times. One INT resulted in six points for the Gators as Chauncey Gardner, a freshman safety for UF, took the pick back for a touchdown early on in the fourth quarter.
As a result of Florida’s victory, customers who visit Outback Steakhouse on Tuesday will receive a free Bloomin’ Onion. As the mothership reminds us, they were quite enthused.
