So bowling might not be the Hawkeyes’ game

TAMPA, Fla. — For now, on the Hawkeyes' second night in Florida, this statement stands: Iowa's bowl losing streak continues.

No, it's not the Outback Bowl. It's bowling, the actual sport of.

The Hawkeyes met the Florida Gators on the bowling alley Tuesday night. The Gators kind of whaled on Iowa, scoring a 797 to 691 victory at Splitsville at Channelside.

Each team was composed of six players who finished 10 full frames. Iowa's team was tight ends George Kittle and Peter Pekar, quarterback C.J. Beathard, wide receiver Riley McCarron, linebacker Amani Jones and offensive lineman Cole Croston.

A trophy was handed out. Hot dogs and burgers were eaten. For those who didn't care for bowling, Iowa defensive ends Matt Nelson and Parker Hesse among them, there were a bunch of pool tables.

Of course, the joke works better if you know that the Hawkeyes are trying to snap a bowl game losing streak of five games. So ... as of Tuesday night, that kind of continues. Kind of.

Iowa meets Florida in the Outback Bowl next Monday at noon.

BIG FRESHMEN

Seeing an Iowa football freshman who's taking a redshirt is kind of like seeing a unicorn. Practices are closed, so the public basically see these guys during the open scrimmage in August and then not until the bowl.

One of the biggest guys walking around Splitsville on Tuesday night was freshman offensive tackle Alaric Jackson, a 6-7, 285-pounder from Detroit, Mich. Jackson picked Iowa over offers from Michigan State, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

'Alaric is pretty big, and raw like most first year linemen,' Ferentz said last week. 'He really has a great attitude, a really good work ethic. And speaking of the period that we've gone through (bowl prep), we've seen some things that are really encouraging about him. We'll let him just keep growing but my sense is he'll be a really good football player for us.'

THE SCHEDULE

The Hawkeyes practice at 9 a.m. (Iowa time) on Wednesday.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and Florida coach Jim McElwain speak with media at 11 (Iowa time). Florida practices at noon. Both teams visit Busch Gardens in the afternoon.

Iowa did a lot of its heavy practicing in Iowa City before the trip. Now, the Hawkeyes' focus is more on game plan. Ferentz compared this week's practices to late November practices, when the preparation is more mental than physical.

'(I) just wanted them to feel like we're really kind of honing in on what we're trying to do,' Ferentz said. 'It takes a mature team to do that, so that's a risk you take. We keep putting that challenge out there for our guys.'

FLORIDA CURFEW

Well, Ferentz just said that he's put his team in 'hone' mode, so you know the curfew is going to be that of a middle schooler.

'We used to have later curfews, but we used to be there nine days ahead of time, too,' Ferentz said. 'We're going to treat it like we're in-season, basically and there will be a lid on things. Certainly, I think the first night is the only night they will be out at all (Monday), at an hour that I would consider late.

'So you know, I'm 61, right, so nine o'clock's late for me. We'll give them one night where they can stay out past 11, but after that, it's going to be kind of a little tighter.'

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