Big game trophy

MIAMI -- The Orange Bowl is not the Rose Bowl, at least not to Kirk Ferentz.

Maybe the meaning of things is lost in semantics, but it doesn't sound as though the Iowa coach counts, if you will, this Orange Bowl as a Rose Bowl. The No. 10 Hawkeyes (10-2) didn't win the Big Ten title, so the game doesn't, in Ferentz's opinion, shine as brightly maybe as an Iowa Rose Bowl appearance.

"In a way, yes," Ferentz said when asked if he considered the Hawkeyes' Orange Bowl appearance tonight against No. 9 Georgia Tech (11-2) a Rose Bowl.

Ferentz's first season as Iowa's offensive line coach under Hayden Fry was 1981, when the Hawkeyes broke through to their first Rose Bowl since 1959. Iowa won a piece of the Big Ten championship in '81, that's why, in Ferentz's mind, the Orange Bowl isn't quite a Rose Bowl.

 "There is a difference. We were league champions, so there is a difference," Ferentz said. "We were league champions the last time we were here (2003 Orange Bowl). That's the No. 1 accomplishment you want to have in a season. We came up a little short this year. That's football.

"Nevertheless, we had a great season. Any way you slice it, it was a great year. This is a reward for that."

So, slice this Orange Bowl and it isn't a Rose Bowl. What is it?

Slice the '10 Orange in thirds.

You could make a sound argument that it's Iowa's biggest trophy game since the '59 Rose Bowl.

Hayden Fry made it to three Rose Bowls at Iowa and never won. Ferentz took the 2002 Big Ten co-champs to the Orange Bowl and fell to USC. Iowa has won 10 bowl game since the '59 Rose, but three Alamo Bowls don't equal one Rose or Orange.

Would an Orange Bowl victory give Ferentz "the big one" that eluded Fry? Would this elevate Ferentz to Forest Evashevski stature? The late Iowa coach brought two Rose Bowl victories to Iowa City, 1957 and '59. Would a BCS victory vault Ferentz past Fry in Iowa lore?

You know Ferentz wasn't going there.

"A win anywhere is good, I've learned that," Ferentz said, "and a loss anywhere is painful. It's about as simple as that. Doesn't matter if you're in third grade or college. It just kind of boils down to that a lot of time.

"All the things that have happened this had year have been good for our school, I think, and our program and our state."

So, an Orange Bowl victory would have some heft to it. It would physically be the biggest bauble in the lobby of the Hayden Fry Football Complex.

"Trophys are nice to think about," Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi said. "But there's so much that goes into it. You have to do all the right things during the week. We're not close to even thinking about what it would mean at this point."

That's a third of what this Orange Bowl is. Another third is the Big Ten banner.

After last season's 1-6 bowl record, the Big Ten's reputation on a national level has been toe lint. That's the sound you heard when the Hawkeyes walked a tightrope to a 9-0 start and entered the BCS converstation. National media just wasn't in the mood for another Big Ten flameout in the national title game, something the league has Ohio State to thank for with its back-to-back flops in 2007-08.

The Big Ten is 3-3 in bowls this season, leaving Iowa to push the conference over the top, something Ferentz joked about Monday morning. Ferentz believes the Big Ten bashing is a sweeping generalization.

"There's been a lot of Big Ten bashing going on. I think perception tends to get exaggerated a little bit," Ferentz said. "Last year in the bowl season, Texas-Ohio State (24-21 Texas in the Fiesta), that was a great football game. Either team could have won. Two very good teams. Same thing with Northwestern and Missouri (30-23 Missouri in OT in the Alamo).

"I think people tend to generalize and stretch things. Imagine that happening?"

The final third of what the '10 Orange Bowl is for Iowa is redemption for the '03 Orange Bowl.

On arguably the biggest stage the Ferentz era Hawkeyes have played on, the Hawkeyes unplugged in nearly every way, shape and form, falling 38-17 to USC.

"I don't know how big this is," linebacker Pat Angerer said. "But it does mean a lot. I know that the last time we went down to Miami, the outcome didn't turn out to well. I think we're going in more focused than we've been. The key to winning in January is a good December.

"We're playing in a good bowl game against a good team. It's up to us to do something with it."

Every news conference this week, Ferentz has referenced that game. Sure, no players from this year's team were around for that, but Ferentz certainly was. It grinds him.

"We had three defensive offsides," Ferentz said of the '03 Orange Bowl. "I can give you a list of about 10 things, but I'll stop there. That's just not representative of any team playing in a good bowl game. There were about 10 things that happened in that game that fit right in there."

Monday morning, Ferentz smiled uneasily while posing for photos with the Orange Bowl trophy, a monstrosity that holds about 40 oranges.

Those weren't roses, but it's still a big trophy, in every sense of the word for the Hawkeyes.