Kentucky vs Iowa game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the TransPerfect Music City Bowl on Saturday, December 31
Kentucky vs Iowa prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch. TransPerfect Music City Bowl, Saturday, December 31
Kentucky vs Iowa TransPerfect Music City Bowl Prediction Game Preview
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Kentucky vs Iowa How To Watch
Date: Saturday, December 31
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Venue: Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN
How To Watch: ABC
Record: Kentucky (7-5), Iowa (7-5)
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Kentucky vs Iowa TransPerfect Music City Bowl 5 Things To Know
TransPerfect Music City Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History
– Two teams with a bunch of players wearing Iowa and Kentucky uniforms will run onto the field, and a game of football will be played. After that, good luck trying to figure out what this is going to be.
Kentucky won’t have its top guys in the backfield – QB Will Levis is getting ready to possibly be the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, and heart-and-soul RB Chris Rodriguez isn’t going to play, either. It goes on from there with the depth taking a hit along with a few parts on the defensive side.
Iowa is trying to figure out its offense, too, without one of its normal quarterbacks expected to be around for an offense that wasn’t exactly rocking and rolling to begin with.
There are enough regular starters for both teams to make this interesting, but it’s going to be a bit rocky, especially because …
– Iowa had the second-worst offense in college football. There wasn’t any passing game, scoring was like pulling teeth, and there’s a rumor the attack converted on a third down. Even so, the defense was fantastic – a slew of the main men are supposed to be around – and the O managed to not screw it up over a five-game winning streak in the second half of the year.
Kentucky’s offense wasn’t a whole lot better thanks to a ragged offensive line, the defense couldn’t generate a pass rush, and yet it all worked in a Kentucky sort of way to get here. That’s not a knock because …
– Kentucky has been great in bowl games under Mark Stoops. UK lost four straight bowls – with Stoops dropping his first two – and then came the run of four great performances in bowl wins over the last four years. That includes last season’s 20-17 Citrus Bowl win over …
– Iowa was a disaster in bowls from 2011 to 2016, and then it all turned with three nice wins highlighted by a 49-24 whacking of USC in the 2019 Holiday Bowl. Last year’s bowl loss to Kentucky was tough, but it was a good fight.
– When the Music City Bowl hits, it’s cranks up a home run. Purdue’s 48-45 overtime win over Tennessee last year might have been the best bowl of the season. Throwing out the canceled 2020 bowl, 13 of the last 17 Music City Bowls have been decided by eight points or fewer. Considering how these two teams play, this should be low scoring, too.
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Why Kentucky Will Win The TransPerfect Music City Bowl
Really, this Iowa offense is just that stagnant.
It was only able to hit 200 yards passing twice, the overall attack never came up with 400 yards, and it only got to 300 three times. It’s not a stretch to suggest it’ll only take a few scores for Kentucky to put this away.
As is there’s no Iowa passing game, at least there’s nothing deep. Now it’s throwing out an untested option in Joey Labas as he tries to do something to get the chains moving.
But the Iowa O is the Iowa O. It’s the defensive side that has to own this game, and it starts with needing to come up with takeaways. Kentucky had issues over the first half of the season with giveaways, but it only turned it over twice in the last four games.
And the Wildcats can play a little defense, too. It hasn’t allowed 200 passing yards in any of the last four games, and Iowa doesn’t have the running game to make up for it.
However …
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Why Iowa Will Win The TransPerfect Music City Bowl
Really, the Kentucky offense is just that stagnant.
Will Levis is being panned as a possible top pick in the NFL Draft, but that’s partly because he didn’t get a chance to show what he could do behind an offensive line that was the worst in the SEC in sacks allowed.
That’s where the Iowa defense comes in. If all goes according to plan, a slew of key stars from the nation’s fourth-best D and sixth-best scoring defense. As is UK couldn’t get the attack moving. It’s supposed to rock without Levis and Rodriguez? Not really.
And no, the Iowa offense isn’t going to come out and hang 50 on the board. However, there won’t be anything big coming from the Kentucky pass rush and defensive front.
UK is 7-0 when allowing fewer than 165 rushing yards, and 0-5 when allowing that many or more. However …
TransPerfect Music City Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History
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