Iowa's Desmond King says he never considered skipping Outback Bowl

IOWA CITY — The announcement of a few high profile college football players and their decision to not play in their respective bowl games has given the college football world a talking point for the last week or so.

The highest-profile of which, LSU's Leonard Fournette and Stanford's Christian McCaffery, have chosen to forego the Citrus and Sun Bowls, respectively. Their decisions hinge on preparing for the NFL Draft and staying healthy.

Iowa's football team, which will play Florida in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 2, has a few guys who could have made the same choice — namely defensive back Desmond King and quarterback C.J. Beathard. King especially, who chose to return to Iowa instead of entering the draft after his Thorpe Award win last year, would have been able to make the same justification as Fournette and McCaffery.

There was never a doubt, though, from King. He always was going to Tampa with his teammates.

'That was not a thought in my head at all,' King said. 'Having an opportunity to play in a bowl game is very special. I'm honored to play in the Outback Bowl.

'Me personally, I'm about my team. That's why I came back here to get my education and play with my teammates. Just having an opportunity to play in the Outback Bowl is very significant. You don't get those opportunities (often).'

Much of the defense of those choosing not to play their bowl games has included the idea that the bowl games not involved in the College Football Playoff are meaningless.

Coach Kirk Ferentz took exception to that idea on Tuesday at the Hansen Performance Center.

While technically correct that the non-CFP bowls aren't being contested for the teams involved to be able to play another game, Ferentz and his players all made sure to point out that any time a team suits up, it matters to someone. Ferentz wasn't angry or defiant in his message — he didn't take a question on it, rather choosing to address it in his opening statement — but was matter-of-fact about his opinion.

'I heard a national media figure just talk about bowl games and a guy playing in a meaningless game and that does concern me a little bit,' Ferentz said. 'You know, as a college coach, I think all of us have experienced when you play in bowl games, that is an important thing. It's really important to the participants, and I think it's true of all games.

'I don't think the person that said that meant anything by it but it's one of the fears that I have about the playoff system and the concept of expanding. It's almost as if you're not in the playoff system, everything else doesn't count, and I think a lot of people are missing the boat on that one.'

King can empathize with guys like Fournette and McCaffery, and there are plenty of examples of players playing in a bowl game, being injured and having that impact their draft position — and ultimately the money they make right out of school.

The Hawkeyes' star cornerback made his choice to return to school to get his degree and play another season with Iowa, and he said Tuesday he can't wait for the Gators.

He just also gets why someone else might not.

'I don't mind speaking on it. Those guys, it's their decision and their career they're putting forth,' King said. 'I understand where they're coming from. It's about their health and getting that jump-start in training. Like I said, from a teammate standpoint, it's their decision to put forth what their career is going to be in the near future. I support them 100 percent on that as well. But from my standpoint, I'm focused on winning this bowl game, come Jan. 2.'

CROSTON A MAYBE, RUGAMBA IFFY FOR OUTBACK BOWL

Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz gave an update on the injury status of a few key Hawkeyes on Tuesday.

Offensive lineman Cole Croston and cornerback Manny Rugamba missed various amounts of time — Croston missed five games with an ankle injury and Rugamba went out in the finale against Nebraska with a shoulder injury. Their recovery in preparation for the Outback Bowl is at two different levels as well.

On Croston, Ferentz is 'optimistic.'

'He's got a couple days now and so far, so good,' Ferentz said. 'Hardly out of the woods and he missed a lot of time but the good news is everything is positive right now and hopefully we can just kind of keep him on track, and if so, we plan on playing him if he's able to play, certainly we'd like to get him in there. But he's got to be able to play effectively, too, so right now, the picture looks pretty optimistic.'

On Rugamba, Ferentz was less so.

'I think we'll know more maybe at the end of this week. He's got a little bit of a fracture, so it has to be far enough along,' Ferentz said. 'He's right on the edge in terms of quote, unquote, the numbers, so it could go either way. We have to play him like he's not going to be there but there's a chance he could be ready, and then you're dealing with, again, the same issue, how much practice time will he get before the game.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com