Hippo Diamond Stick and the Hawkeyes lack of balance

TAMPA, Fla. — The one thing that really, really, really worked for Iowa this year was red zone offense.

The Hawkeyes (8-5) went into Monday's Outback Bowl nationally good in this stat. Iowa stood No. 9 with points scored in 36 of 39 trips inside the opponents' 20-yard line. That led the Big Ten. Iowa scored touchdowns on 71.8 percent of its trips to the red zone (28 of 39), sitting No. 15 nationally.

Florida (9-4) kicked the legs out from under that before halftime of its 30-3 victory over the Hawkeyes.

On what was the game's most telling play, the Gators' defense stopped Iowa for a 2-yard loss on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with about eight minutes left in the second quarter. Iowa had a chance to take a 10-3 lead and then it ran into 'Hippo Diamond Stick.'

Hippo Diamond Stick? Hippo Diamond Stick.

Football coaches can sometimes get quirky about what they name their plays and schemes. They're usually toiled over during the late hours and over coffee that might be reheated.

Florida head coach Jim McElwain said that's exactly where the name for Hippo Diamond Stick came from. It's a goal-line package. It saved a Gators' SEC East-clinching 16-10 victory over LSU in late November.

The Hippo Diamond gave them the push that led them to victory over the Hawkeyes.

'That was huge,' Florida nose tackle Joey Ivie said. 'In my head, I was like, 'Wow, it was kind of like LSU.' We have a great goal line defense. We all have that mentality where you're going to give everything or they're going to score.'

Just like the LSU goal-line stand, safety Marcell Harris blew by the fullback and made the play. Iowa fullback Brady Ross never saw Harris, who got into running back LeShun Daniels' legs for a 2-yard loss.

Red zone offense was the thing for the Hawkeyes this season, even in the face of an offense that struggled in the passing game after wide receiver Matt VandeBerg's season-ending foot injury. Florida even took that away from them.

'I try to stay upbeat as much as I can for the entire game,' Iowa tight end George Kittle said. 'I know that we're trying our hardest. It's not a lack of effort, I just think they executed better than we did.'

Lack of a passing game hurt again on Monday. Running back Akrum Wadley, who said after the game he is considering leaving early for the NFL draft, led Iowa with four receptions for 21 yards. Kittle, tight end Peter Pekar and senior wide receiver Riley McCarron were the only other pass catchers. That's four receptions for the running back, two for tight ends and one for the wide receivers.

Of course Hippo Diamond Stick is going to work when the offense it's facing can't complete a pass to save the day.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said the goal every year is to have a balanced offense. Work on that starts as soon as 2017 starts.

Hlas: Akrum Wadley may go pro, and who could blame him?

'Some years you do a better job at that than others, this year we had to lean to the run pretty heavily, just like in '04 when we had to throw it pretty much all of the time,' Ferentz said. 'Those things happen, circumstances factor into it, but our goal is to be balanced and then it's just a matter of us trying to get to that point.'

There was no balance in the Outback. Not with a Hippo Diamond Stick on the Hawkeyes' chest.