The Iowa Hawkeyes (8-4, 6-3 Big Ten) will close their 2024 college football season with a date against the Missouri Tigers (9-3, 5-3 SEC) on Dec. 30 from Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl.
As Iowa prepares for one final test, head coach Kirk Ferentz shared his initial impressions of the Missouri Tigers and his excitement to be taking part in another bowl game with the Hawkeyes.
“We’re really excited about the invitation to go back to Nashville and play in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl. We were there as you all know a couple years ago and had a wonderful experience. Good football game. Expecting more of the same there.
“We still consider going to a bowl game a really significant accomplishment for our football team. This will be our 22nd bid since our first one back in ’01, so just really proud of the guys and happy for them, especially to end up in a good venue like this and in a good game against an outstanding opponent,” Ferentz said.
Though Missouri will be without star wide receiver Luther Burden, Ferentz knows this is a tough Tigers squad.
“Playing Missouri, had a 9-3 record this year in a really tough conference, so I know they’re a good football team. I think I heard that they’ve won four straight bowls, so they know something about bowl success on top of that.
“A lot of work to do on them, certainly got a lot of time to do that right now. First and foremost, just happy with the way things have panned out and just again really happy for our team and congratulate them on a really good year,” Ferentz said.
Ahead of this Music City Bowl date, Ferentz said his path hasn’t crossed with Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz yet. Obviously, that’s set to change in Nashville.
“I’ve never met Eli in person, so have that opportunity here for that. Tremendous respect for what he’s done and I don’t know a lot about him quite frankly, his background. I know he was at Appy State, an outstanding program and did a really nice job there.
“Missouri certainly did a good job of identifying him and the job he’s done there in a short time—I’m old, I consider five years short time—he’s really done a really nice job not only building a good program, but it’s a national program and they’ve done very well in a tough conference as you know. So, congratulations to them. I know it’s going to be a tough opponent for us to match up against,” Ferentz said.
Iowa was actually set to battle Missouri in the Music City Bowl to conclude the 2020 season, but the Tigers pulled out of the game due to a rise in COVID-19 cases within the program.
Iowa ended its 2022 season with a 21-0 shutout victory over Kentucky in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl. The Hawkeyes used a 15-yard touchdown grab from tight end Luke Lachey and a pair of pick-sixes from defensive backs Xavier Nwankpa and Cooper DeJean to roll past the Wildcats that day.
Kickoff for Iowa against Missouri is set for 1:30 p.m. CT with the game to be televised on ESPN.
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