Orange Bowl final -- The Last Call

Power play -- The play that sealed Iowa's 24-14 Orange Bowl victory over Georgia Tech was a classic Big Ten power run, with the line blocking down and the right guard, Kyle Calloway, pulling around and blasting open a hole.

Tech had too many D-linemen on one side. Iowa overran them. Wegher squirted through and left a trail of four Tech defenders in his wake.

"We had that play ready. We still had to go out and execute it," center Rafael Eubanks said. "We executed it to perfection."

The play was run to the left, behind junior tackle Bryan Bulaga, who is expected to announce his intention to enter the NFL draft later this week. If that was Bulaga's curtain call at Iowa, what a way to go out, leading a play that broke for the game-clinching touchdown. It also helped bring home the school's first major bowl victory since the 1959 Rose Bowl.

"They were in a five-man front," Bulaga said. "We were able to push everyone down and squirt Brandon out there. We pulled Kyle around. He was able to open up a big hole. Brandon hit the seam and get two big plays for us."

Wegher also broke for a 23-yarder on the same drive, thus collecting 55 of his 113 yards on the game-deciding drive.

Hello, governor -- Iowa governor Chet Culver met with a few Iowa players after the game. He even wore a black-and-gold tie with a bunch of little Tiger Hawks on it.

"These kids showed great guts and resiliency, Stanzi in particular, coming back from that tough injury," Culver said. "My hat goes off to coach Ferentz, our great athletics director Barta and these players.

"But, I tell you what, I knew coming down here last night the difference was the fans. These fans came out and I'm very, very proud of the Hawkeye fans, who not only came from across the state, but from across the country. It's really great to be a part of it."

The plan -- Georgia Tech's triple-option attack reads the opponent's defensive end and counters with a pitch or a dive or a QB keeper. Iowa didn't let that happen, especially in the first half.

Defensive coordinator Norm Parker kept throwing Tech curveballs with the ends. It kept Tech off balance and out of rhythm.

"We had had different calls on our defense, maybe we'd fake to the dive and then pop out to the quarterback," defensive end Adrian Clayborn said. "It was just a change up of the looks, so they wouldnt' know what we would be doing. We got them confused, but they took it to us in the third quarter."

That was Tech's only sign of life, and one of those drives -- 12 plays, 7:10 -- went for naught when Scott Blair's 41-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right.

Otherwise, Tech was held to 143 yards on 41 carries, a 3.5 average. The Yellow Jackets came into the Orange Bowl averaging 307.15 yards a game, No. 2 in the nation.

"Our game plan was to really squeeze down on the tackles and keep our backers free," end Broderick Binns said. "We wanted them to come over top and attack the quarterback."

Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt had a horrific night. He was held to 46 rushing yards, sacked three times and showed absolutely no touch in the passing game, completing just 2 of 9 for 12 yards and an interception to linebacker A.J. Edds.

Georgia Tech's pass completions (2), pass attempts (9) and passing yards (12) are the lowest numbers allowed during the Ferentz era.

"We knew that if they passed, it was going to be in desperate situations," linebacker Jeremiha Hunter said. "We knew they weren't a good passing team. We had to shut the run down. If they passed, that works out for us."

Iowa's D-line rendered Tech more one-dimensional than paper.

"We had to double their inside guys," Tech coach Paul Johnson said. "We were trying to combo block and doing some of that in the first half. And quite honestly, we couldn't do it."

Iowa injuries -- Wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos did something to his right knee and hip and missed the second half. The extent of the injuries aren't yet known. He said trainers told him that it looked like possible strains, but there was no definitive answer.

Senior wide receiver Trey Stross played the game with a torn MCL, he wrote on his Facebook page. He caught one pass for 9 yards and it was a big deal. It came on a third-and-8 from Iowa's 39 with about four minutes left. If he's not there, Iowa has to punt and defend a 17-14 lead against an offense that picked up momentum in the second half. Instead, the drive ended with Wegher's 32-yard TD run.

Running back Adam Robinson, who had 59 yards on 14 carries, wore a shoulder harness all week for a reason. He suffered a sprained shoulder during bowl preparations.

Guard down, tackle up -- Even after they showed it during the open portion of practice, Kirk Ferentz never admitted this week that freshman Riley Reiff was going to play right tackle with Calloway, a 36-game starter at tackle, moving inside to guard. His players insisted that's how they practiced for the last month and that's what would happen.

Was it a prelude to Reiff's move to left tackle if/when Bulaga leaves for left tackle?

"You know me," said Reiff, who's played left and right tackle and right guard this season, "I'll play wherever they want me to. Just help out the team."

First since Florida International -- Wide receiver Colin Sandeman kind of came out of nowhere with a terrific Orange Bowl performance.

After catching five passes for 45 yards against Arizona in week three, Sandeman caught just three more passes all season for a total of 10 all season. He hadn't caught a TD pass since week two of the 2008 season, a span of 23 games.

Tuesday night, he caught four passes for 53 yards, including a 21-yard TD that gave the Hawkeyes a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

"It definitely felt good to get in there and get a couple catches," said Sandeman, who fought through a hamstring injury that cost him all of fall camp and then suffered a concussion Oct. 24 at Michigan State. "I really wouldn't call it frustrating this year. I'm just trying to help the team out. I had a couple injuries that held me back."

He showed outstanding concentration on his TD pass, which was an audible from Stanzi.

"I actually lost it in the lights for a split second," Sandeman said. "He threw a perfect ball. I just put my hands up there and caught it. I really lost it for a split second, though."

Inside the numbers

49 degrees -- The 49 degrees was the coldest temperature at kickoff in Orange Bowl history. The previous mark was 57 degrees in the 2008 game between Kansas and Virginia Tech.

155 -- Tech's 155 yards of offense was the first time since Nebraska in 1992 that an Orange Bowl team didn't break 200 yards of offense. This was the lowest total since Nebraska was held to 135 yards against Miami (Fla.) in 1989. It was also an Iowa record for yards allowed in a bowl. The previous mark was Texas Tech's 206 yards in the 1996 Alamo Bowl. It was also a season low for Tech.

44th -- Iowa running back Brandon Wegher had the 44th 100-yard rushing game in Orange Bowl history.

Double digits --  The Hawkeyes finished the season 11-2, the fourth time Iowa has posted a double-digit win total under coach Kirk Ferentz.

837 -- Iowa running back Adam Robinson set the freshman rushing record this season with 837 yards, passing Ladell Betts' total of 679 yards in 1998.

Three-and-out -- Tech went into the Orange Bowl with a BCS low 14 three-and-outs all season long. The Hawkeyes held Tech to three-and-outs on its first four possession and five total. Tech had gone 22 straight possessions without punting. Punter Chandler Anderson booted the ball a season-high seven times.