FedEx Orange Bowl Expert Pick – Hawkeyes vs Yellow Jackets

The only way to make this year’s FedEx Orange Bowl game exciting will be to bet on it as the Hawkeyes face the 4 point favorite Yellow Jackets on January 5 th at 8pm in Land Shark Stadium.

FedEx Orange Bowl Betting Odds:

Iowa Hawkeyes +4
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets -4
O/U 50

The Iowa Hawkeyes total defense is in the top 10 in the nation barely allowing 15.5 points per game with a lot of playmakers in the secondary, but they don’t defend the run as well. And this week they take on a run first team.

There is no question RB Jonathan Dwyer (1346 yards and 14 TDs) will carry most of the Georgia Tech offense but if he can’t find the holes, QB Josh Nesbitt will need to start things going.

You can expect Nesbitt to look for his receivers but if he can’t find anybody open he will run the ball. He threw for 1689 yards and 10 TDs while running for 994 yards and has 18 scores.

"Georgia Tech brings a great offense to the table, as far as stopping them with our defense," said Iowa linebacker A.J. Edds. "We will have our hands full, they are a good team and deserve it obviously and they won the ACC, so it should be a great game."

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets can’t defend the run but they are even worse at defending the pass. Iowa will try to mix-up the plays now that QB Ricky Stanzi and running back Adam Robinson are back from their injuries.

"He is doing absolutely fantastic," said Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz.

Stanzi missed the last two games and during his absence the Hawkeyes offense looked horrendous.

"Their quarterback Stanzi will be back for this game, which will be a big help to them," GT coach Pual Johnson said. "They have a good football team. They don’t beat themselves and they’re very well-coached. I think they’ve shown a lot of character in that they’ve come from behind in several games this year and did what they had to do to win.

"It will be a big challenge for us to get ready for Iowa."

Last 5 Georgia Tech Bowl Results (22-15)

• 2004 Champs Sports Bowl vs. Syracuse 51-14 W
• 2005 Emerald Bowl vs. Utah 10-38 L
• 2006 Gator Bowl vs. West Virginia 35-38 L
• 2007 Humanitarian Bowl vs. Fresno State 28-40 L
• 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl vs. LSU 3-38 L

Last 5 Iowa Bowl Results (12-10-1)

• 2003 Outback Bowl vs. Florida 37-17 W
• 2004 Capital One Bowl vs. LSU 30-25 W
• 2005 Outback Bowl vs. Florida 24-31 L
• 2006 Alamo Bowl vs. Texas 24-26 L
• 2008 Outback Bowl vs. South Carolina 31-10 W

FedEx Orange Bowl Expert Pick: The Yellow Jackets’ offense will be too much for an under matched Hawkeyes.