TaxSlayer Bowl: Tennessee looks to notch first winning season since 2009

TaxSlayer Bowl
Iowa (7-5) vs. Tennessee (6-6)
Jacksonville, Fla.
Jan. 2, 2015

These two teams come into this game moving in two very different directions.

Iowa, which was picked to challenge for the Big Ten title, lost three of its final four games while Tennessee, which had the youngest roster in the nation to start the season, won three of its final four games to become bowl eligible.

That makes this contest highly unpredictable.

Neither one of these teams does anything great. Iowa had a decent running game early in the season, but that faded down the stretch. Tennessee's offense has struggled much of this season, though new quarterback Josh Dobbs has provided a little spark and running back Jalen Hurd, who has missed time because of injury, will be healthy for this contest.

So really, this contest is going to come down to motivation.

Tennessee didn’t think it would be playing in a bowl this season. This was a rebuilding year for the Vols, who had new faces on more than half of their roster. Tennessee hasn’t been to a bowl game since 2010 and hasn’t won one since 2007.

For Iowa, this is a sad consolation prize for a team that had a chance to win the Big Ten West and squandered it in the last quarter of the season. The Hawkeyes had dismal losses to Iowa State and Maryland and failed to live up to expectations in every way. Even a win in this game couldn’t erase Iowa’s 2014 underachievement.

When it all shakes out, this will probably be a high-scoring affair. Tennessee’s scoring average increased from 23.9 to 35.0 over its final four games and with the running game healthy, it figures to be clicking on all cylinders. Iowa didn’t have a lot of trouble scoring this season, just stopping its opponents.

ODDS: Tennessee (-3.5)

FUN FACT Iowa under coach Kirk Ferentz is 6-5 in bowl games and 4-2 against the SEC. However, the Hawkeyes have dropped their last two bowl appearances.

PREDICTIONS

Graham: I’m going to go with the hot team in this game even though it might not necessarily be the better one. The Vols’ offense gets rolling with its healthy running game and caps the first winning season since 2009. Tennessee 35, Iowa 24.

Nick: This could be the best test of the Big Ten and SEC. Iowa is a bizarre team while Tennessee, like Arkansas, could be considered to be better than its record indicates. The Vols are the pick here.Tennessee 27, Iowa 17.

Sam: Iowa really underperformed this year and Tennessee is billed as a program on the rise. Still, Iowa is a far more experienced team that had some tight losses to good teams down the stretch. I'll go with the Hawkeyes. Iowa 24, Tennessee 20.

For more Tennessee news, visit VolQuest.com.

For more Iowa news, visit HawkeyeReport.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday

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