Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Hawkeye vs Kentucky Wildcat Citrus Bowl crossover: Why turnovers will be the key

Episode Date: December 30, 2021

We are joined by Locked On Kentucky host Lance Dawe to break down the Iowa football team's Citrus Bowl game vs the Kentucky Wildcats. How should the Iowa Hawkeyes attack Kentucky and what to expect from Kentucky on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, plus turnovers could be a big key in this game. Quarterback Will Levis and runningback Chris Rodriguez have combined for a significant number of turnovers, and now they are going up against the nation's top team. However, can Iowa's offense move against Kentucky's defense? We break it all down here.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.NetSuiteOver twenty-seven thousand businesses already use NetSuite and RIGHT NOW through the end of the year NetSuite is offering a one-of-a-kind financing program to those ready to upgrade at NetSuite.com/LOCKEDONNCAA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. All right, y'all, we got the Citrus Bowl coming up this Saturday, which means we have a crossover episode, Locked on Hawkeyes. I'm your host, Andrew Wade. We have Lance Dahl of Locked on Kentucky. It's going to be a fun episode today, covering everything you want to know about the Iowa Hawkeyes

versus the Kentucky Wildcats. Before we get into any of that, though, I want to thank you all for making either the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast or the Locked on Kentucky podcast your first listen every single day. You can find both of our shows wherever you get podcast at and also on YouTube by searching Locked On Kentucky or Locked On Hawkeyes. And this episode is brought to you by NetSuite. NetSuite is the number one cloud financial system to power your growth.

Head over to netsuite.com slash locked on NCAA for a special end of year financing on the number one financial system for growing businesses. So Lance, let's get into it, man. We have a fun game. Two teams that have a very good opportunity to get to 10 wins. Oh, I was at 10 wins opportunity to get to 11 wins, Kentucky, the opportunity to get to 10 wins.

There's been a lot of talk about bull season and bulls being canceled teams, not really caring about the bull, But I think it's safe to say that both these teams care pretty significantly about these bowls. And there's not a lot of opt outs. I'm not aware of any opt outs on the Kentucky side. Iowa only has Tyler Goodson. So kind of an anomaly in this day and age. What are your thoughts initially on this game? Well, I'll say right off the bat, like you just said, I think this is a game that both of these teams definitely care about. I mean, obviously, you have Iowa, which could potentially get to a very solid 10 win plus season. And then Kentucky, on the other hand, getting to a 10 win plus season for the first time, I believe, since 2018 was the

time that they beat Penn State in the Citrus Bowl. So this is an opportunity for both these teams to make big statements. And obviously, you know, the rivalry between the Big Ten and the SEC about trying to define, you know, what's the best conference out there. I think that plays a factor into it. And you look at these two programs as a whole. I mean, Iowa for the past what feels like forever, but for the past like 15, 20 years, I mean, they're just kind of the epitome of consistency, right?

They always feel like they're making a bowl. They always feel like they're getting to those seven, eight, potentially nine win marks. And then occasionally they'll have a year where they truly get over the top and they get that 10 wins. They get to a conference title game. Kentucky very much so recently has finally started to establish some consistency with Mark Stoops as a head coach. I believe both of these teams have made a bowl game and won a bowl game four straight

or three straight years in a row. The team that wins this game will get their fourth straight bowl win. So this is definitely a high profile matchup. And, you know, the line reflected and I believe it opened at Iowa minus one. I think it's sitting somewhere around Kentucky minus two and a half right now. But this should definitely be a very competitive game. I think both these teams really want to be here. Completely agree. I think it's interesting as well.

If you look to the history of both these programs, Mark Stoops, a former Iowa player who played and worked or played with, played under Kirk Ferris, I should say during that time period. So really kind of a cool caveat there. Iowa has played under or against Bob Stoops and obviously their oldest brother as well. So lots of fun stuff coming on in this game. The line is interesting as well. The fact that it started out as Iowa minus one kind of shocked me a little bit, obviously, since it has moved up to minus two for Kentucky, minus three for Kentucky. What are your initial thoughts? Do you feel like this is a game that Kentucky should win? I honestly think that, you know, what this Iowa team does well and has done well this point is control the field position battle and create turnovers defensively right and at times whenever

Kentucky has struggled this season they have struggled in the field position battle and they have uh created they have lost turnovers so I definitely think that it's not a good matchup from that standpoint but if you go into this game not expecting Kentucky to turn the ball over I think defensively it's going to be a slugfest between both these two teams but I would think that Kentucky most times comes out with the win but you also have to factor in I mean this Iowa team has been very very very good at creating turnovers and Will Levis has not been the cleanest in terms of not, not throwing interceptable passes. So I think that this is a game that Kentucky has an opportunity to win, but things

could go poorly quickly if, if, uh, if Kentucky does turn the ball over. Yeah. One of the things I noticed is that will Levis, um, and obviously Iowa fans have some familiarity with will Levis having played at Penn state, um, 12 interceptions this year, 10 turnover worthy plays on top of that. And then you're starting running back Chris Rodriguez, six fumbles this year, 10 turnover worthy plays on top of that. And then you're starting running back Chris Rodriguez, six fumbles. I was actually talking about this on the show on Tuesday. I was complaining about one of our running backs having three fumbles and the fact that he shouldn't be allowed to start. Meanwhile, Chris Rodriguez has six fumbles as a team 13 fumbles. So a lot of opportunity for chaos there. Do you feel like it's Kentucky putting themselves in bad situations?

Or is it one of those kind of freak things, just really big hits on the running back, really good plays being made on throws by Will Levis? I mean, there's always a give and take to that. But how much of that is Kentucky just having unfortunate timing or unfortunate plays happen versus them making mistakes? Well, I think part of it is a lack of focus, right? I think that definitely is a factor. I don't necessarily think that there have been hits this season where it's like, oh, well,

that definitely should have been a fumble because it was just such a hard hit. I think there has been a lack of focus every now and then when it comes to just holding on to the football. But at the same time, you know, the fact that Chris Rodriguez has lost six fumbles, the fact the team has lost 13, like you just mentioned, I mean, part of that is just, you know, that's just the way it is. It's just kind of an anomaly, it feels like, of sorts. But I would definitely say when you consistently have fumbles to the point where you have 13 of them right,

and your starting running back has that many, it is, in my opinion, somewhat of a focus thing and a discipline thing. And that's something that I've been critical of so far this season, especially with Lelevis is not having turnovers, just being able to focus up, right? He's been in college for three years now. He shouldn't be making the kind of mistakes that he does. He's gotten better, but at the same time, you know, guys shouldn't be fumbling as much as they are. And I especially think so about Chris Rodriguez and Lelevis. Yeah, it's very interesting to me. Another thing I wanted to mention about Will Levis, or at least what we saw when he was at Penn State, was the ability to get out of the pocket and create plays with his legs. According to PFF,

31 scrambles when he was dropping back for a passing down. How much has he utilized his legs in games this season? Has he relied on that a ton? And how effective has it been? Well, I definitely think it's been effective in certain areas. And I wouldn't necessarily say it's been something that he's had to rely on a lot. Because again, you look at the running game and trying to establish that. I mean, he's got Chris Rodriguez in the backfield with him as well. I think that it's been more out of just leisure. I think just having the opportunity to out of just leisure, I think,

just having the opportunity to scramble instead of needing to scramble. I don't think the offensive line has been bad, but utilizing it as a weapon, I certainly think that he did that in the Governor's Cup against Louisville. I mean, he had four rushing touchdowns, and some of those were off of scrambles. Not all of it was off of designed quarterback runs. So I definitely think that is something, if the Iowa defense is going to be aware of anything, it is. You have to be aware of the fact that we'll keep it and can make you pay with his legs. But I don't think it's something that he relies on as much as he had to at Penn State. I think Liam

Cohen, the offensive coordinator at Kentucky, has tried to develop him to more of a pocket passing quarterback. And he's definitely done that this season, but he is a mobile guy. Yeah, makes sense. I mean, Iowa has had issues with scrambling quarterbacks in the past, especially at Penn State. Trace McSorley just destroyed us for a little bit. Sean Clifford has made us pay at times. Running quarterbacks give us a few fits, especially playing in that zone defense. So it could be an interesting thing to watch out for, especially against Will Levis. I don't want to give you some time to ask some Iowa questions,

but I do have a question about Wondell Robinson. We are very familiar with Wondell Robinson, a do-it-all player from Nebraska originally, transfers to Kentucky, has really excelled, it looks like, this season. One of the best wide receivers in the SEC, maybe top three, top four. How have they targeted Wandale, and how have they gotten him involved in this offense? Well, I'll say this about Wandale.

Like you mentioned, I think Iowa is familiar with him. I believe he had just as many catches as he did rush attempts against the Hawkeyes in the games that he played against them. I believe it was nine apiece, if I'm not mistaken. And Wandale has not necessarily been the running threat this season on sweeps. Kentucky has utilized him that way, but it has been more in the passing game. And when you ask how he's been involved, it's literally every single way that they can get him the football on screens, on underneath routes, on go routes, on slants.

They have tried to get Wandale involved in the offense any way that they possibly can and he's an excellent route runner obviously a fantastic athlete so they've gotten him the ball in space just about every way that i could imagine this season both running and catching the football so he's been all over the place if i were to define the way that he is utilized i would say it's probably closer to the line of scrimmage he doesn't necessarily have that breakaway speed but i i do do think that it is definitely there yeah it's interesting closer to the line of scrimmage. He doesn't necessarily have that breakaway speed, but I do think that it is definitely there. Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, he almost doubles the next closest person in targets, which is Josh. I think it's Josh Alley or Alley? Josh Alley, I believe. Yes, that's how you pronounce it.

I mean, Wendell doubled him in targets. Also, one of the things that kind of stood out to me, second, according to PFF and man coverage grade for receiving with more than 25 targets, 16th in zone coverage receiving grade. So either way you split it, Wandel getting the ball and being very effective of what he's doing, which has been a very interesting thing and also going to be a very key player to watch in this upcoming matchup, Iowa versus Kentucky. Yeah, absolutely. He's definitely going to be somebody that Iowa needs to look out for. And I'm going to be honest with you, with the way that this Iowa defense has played

so far this season, would not be surprised if they gave Kentucky fits. Because if they shut down Wanda Robinson, I mean, things could potentially get ugly quickly. We're going to talk about, I'm going to ask you some questions about the Iowa side of things. We've got some questions about the quarterbacks, about the offense and how Iowa can win this game in just a second. But before we do that, I want to tell you guys about our friends at NetSuite. All right, picture this guys. This is it. The putt to win the tournament. And if

you sink it, the championship is yours. But on the backswing, your hat falls over your eyes. Is this how you're running your business? Poor visibility because you're still relying on spreadsheets and outdated finance software. To see the full picture, you need to upgrade to NetSuite by Oracle. NetSuite is the cloud financial system to power your growth with visibility and control of your financials, inventory, HR, planning, budgeting, and more. NetSuite is everything you need to grow, and it's all in one place. And with NetSuite, you can automate your processes and close your books in no time while staying well ahead of your competition. Over 28,000 businesses already use NetSuite program for those ready to create a.com slash locked. So head over to NetSuite.com

slash locked for this special one-of-a-kind financing offer on the number one financial system for growing businesses. That's NetSuite.com slash locked. Thank you guys so much again. First listen every single day. Make sure to check out College Football Playoff Preview 2021. Local experts, betting advice, and draft analysis. This comprehensive College Football Playoff Preview is live now. And I'm certainly excited to watch the college football playoff as well as all of these other bowl games uh throughout the weekend Alabama

Cincinnati Georgia Michigan gonna be really fun should be a lot of fun I actually have a friend so my wife works with this guy down in Tampa and he went to Cincinnati and he's a huge Michigan fan and he was trying to figure out how does he how does he handle this and so he chose the Cincinnati game he thought I'm going to the Cincinnati game because when are they going to make it back here hoping that Michigan makes the championship game then he already has ticket request put in for the championship game so I'm like man what a what a spoiled kid man I would just be happy for Iowa to make a New Year's Six Bowl and he's sitting here having two teams in the playoffs so pretty fun for him but gonna be a lot of a lot of fun games this weekend yeah absolutely it's really fascinating that he gets to uh he gets to play

the underdog in both games that he's uh he's rooting for uh but talking about the citrus bowl here another game that should be really competitive iowa versus kentucky i don't believe iowa is going to announce a starting quarterback before the uh before the game starts pinch spencer petrus uh alex padilla the two two quarterbacks that Iowa has utilized so far this season. What have you seen out of those two quarterbacks, and how do you think Iowa's going to utilize the quarterback position in this game? I think they're going to go Spencer Petras. He's the guy who has been taking the snaps at number one.

From everything, it sounds like they're not going to be rotating quarterbacks, so they expect to play Spencer the entire time, barring complete ineffectiveness or an injury. Spencer has been banged up quite a bit towards the end of the season. It's really interesting to see what they do with both these quarterbacks. For Alex, he's not a guy who's going to light up a 40-yard dash, but he can get outside of the pocket. He can be mobile. Early on, when he rolled his early on, when his first start in his first game and then his first start,

they did a really good job of getting him outside of the pocket. With Spencer, it becomes really difficult. You really need the running game to be rolling for Spencer Petras to be effective and what Iowa likes to do with those bootlegs and play actions. Otherwise, he's a sitting duck out there. If he does a bootleg and he turns around and all of a sudden the defensive end is crashing in on him, he has zero ability to escape the pocket. So when I'm looking at Kentucky, I get a little bit

worried if Josh Pascal is able to play because Kentucky does have a solid defensive line that's created chaos, that has created a lot of sack opportunities. And Spencer Petras is literally a freaking tree. The kid cannot move. I've never seen someone so unathletic at the quarterback. I mean, he makes Peyton Manning look like a running back at times. It's just ridiculous. But with Spencer Petras, you get very much a very good arm talent, a smart kid who can make calls to the line.

But, yeah, I'm not overly confident in our quarterback situation situation right now. And if Kentucky can create pressure and chaos against our tackles who have been subpar at best this entire season, we could be in for a long day. Well, you talk about Spencer Petras potentially being the starter in this game. And you said there that Iowa operates best with him at quarterback whenever the running game is going. As you mentioned early in the show, Tyler Goodson is not going to be playing in this game. I believe he's just about the only opt-out in this matchup. So how do you see this Iowa offense trying to take advantage of this Kentucky

defense? Something that I noted earlier is Iowa's really good at creating turnovers. Kentucky only six interceptions so far this season. What is this Iowa offense going to do? Yeah, so I think with Kentucky not being able to create those turnovers, you don't have to worry about it as much, but Iowa just predicates themselves on not creating turnovers or not forcing turnovers. And so when you look at Spencer Petras, he's going to be a little bit conservative with the football. One of the things I noted is that it seems like Kentucky has a very good pass rush. Their secondary has some vulnerabilities at times. And what I would like to see is Iowa take a few shots deep early. They tried that against Michigan. When they come out into bowl games, they typically introduce a few new wrinkles.

We saw this in the holiday bowl against USC. They really started attacking the edges with Amir Smith-Marset and they were being very effective there but I'd like to see them take a few shots deep they got Keegan Johnson a true freshman wide receiver who has been really phenomenal so far in his young career he struggled with drafts but has done a really good job of going up for contested catches you've got Charlie Jones who is a speedster who I would like to see them also operate out of the slot and maybe go deep with a little bit. So that's, I think how you kind of open it up a little bit so that Kentucky's not focusing on the run game and where I was really struggled at is they become so predictable with when they are running the football. They do a decent job of passing on first down,

but if they struggle on first down, they immediately go right back to the run at second and nine, second and 10 and teams key off that, and you can almost always stop that. So that's going to be really interesting to see if Iowa can get kind of out of their rut and out of their natural behaviors there. As far as the rushing attack without Tyler Goodson, this is going to sound kind of weird to say, but I think the rushing attack will be absolutely fine without Tyler Goodson, as long as our offensive line can just be average. So Tyler Goodson does a phenomenal job of creating plays out of nothing.

If you go back and watch the Maryland game, he did a great job of literally, I mean, he was getting tackled in the backfield, spun out of three tackles, gets a seven yard game. That's great. What you're also not seeing is that Tyler Goodson sometimes doesn't hit the hole as hard, stutter steps a lot, tries to create too much when it's not there, when he really should just be falling forward. And so you have those big plays with also those big losses,

whereas Gavin Williams, Ivory Kelly Martin, those guys are guys who can go down, they can get four or five yards pretty consistently. So I think the rushing attack will be about the same, which honestly hasn't been that great for Iowa for most of the season, but it'll be really interesting to see how that all plays out against Kentucky. All right. Switching over to the defense now really quickly. Obviously, Iowa has done a fantastic job of creating turnovers this season. Is that kind of the way that this Iowa defense, is that their trademark or do they do other things really, really well? This season? Yes. I would say that's pretty much their main niche, right? They haven't done a great job of generating pressure on the quarterback as much as we've seen in the past. They have had an interesting situation where they've lost at

least three starters every single year on the defensive line for the last three seasons. So that's tough to do before they were replacing guys and then bringing in like a five star like AJ Paneza. But now we're past that point. You have a lot of young guys who are not as developed. So the defensive line has struggled to create as much pressure as you would like. But that secondary does a really great job because they are sitting back in zone, all eyes on the football and their defensive linemen are taught as most defensive linemen are taught. But I think Iowa does a good job of of executing executing their teachings. When you can't get to the quarterback, watch the quarterback's eyes and get your hands up. And then our linebackers are watching the quarterback. Our quarterbacks are watching the quarterback with everyone facing

towards him. It gives you an opportunity to create a bit more turnovers. And Iowa has done a better job than almost every team in the nation the last five, six years in doing that. And Iowa has done a better job than almost every team in the nation the last five, six years in doing that. How do you think this Iowa team is going to try and contain Will Levis, Chris Rodriguez, and Wanda Robinson? I would like to say that we're going to bracket Wanda Robinson over the top and man up on him. But we did not do that against David Bell.

And David Bell had 240 yards and made us look like a JV squad. We struggle against number one receivers like that at times. I would imagine Iowa is going to come back out in their zone defense. If Wondell continues or starts torching them, I could see them moving to more of a bracketed coverage. What's interesting is that our number two cornerback, Matt Hankins, is out of the game, so that's going to be a bit, and he's been out the last couple games, but he's out of the game. So it kind of makes it a bit more difficult. We have some younger guys

in there. I would expect to see some blitzes. Iowa, when they're unable to generate pressure, does start bringing their linebackers out to blitz the quarterback. I think from a rushing attack perspective, I think they're going to stay the status quo. They're going to bring their four guys. They're going to have their linebackers looking in the backfield, they'll stop the running attack. Wow. We'll love us to throw the football and force him to potentially make mistakes, shut down the running attack, let him throw the football and hope that Wanda Robinson doesn't have a killer game against you and ultimately wins the game against you. One more question here for you. Special teams not talked talked about enough I don't feel like whenever

talking about important matchups like this one does Iowa have anything potentially up their sleeve in special teams whether it be they're really good at blocking kicks they're really good at getting kick returns punt returns do they have solid place kickers do they have solid punters is there anything that stands out on special teams for the Hawkeyes I'm glad you asked this because Iowa special teams is probably the top in the nation or top five in the nation. It is arguably the reason why their offense has, like it's the reason why Iowa has been able to win so many games is because their special teams unit gives them such good field position. It takes over for some of the inadequacies of Iowa's subpar lackluster offense. Their punter, Torrey Taylor, was all Big Ten last year,

had a great season this year as well. He's an Australian kid, only second year of ever playing football at all, and he will regularly boot it within the couple yard lines of the goal line. Our kicker was an All-American kicker this year. He backed up a former Lou Groza runner-up, and he can hit from anywhere from 55 yards in. So he does a great job there. And Charlie Jones was an all-Big Ten return man.

So, I mean, you look across the board, we are stacked on the special teams unit. And I think where we really stand out that people don't think about is our special teams coach, LeVar Woods, does truly a phenomenal job of finding breakdowns for other teams' special teams units. When you look at Nebraska, one of the reasons why we won that game is because we got a pump block because they saw something on tape that they needed to execute the very perfect time. They got a pump block, got Iowa back in that game. Illinois, the momentum shifted. Illinois had only allowed four returns

the entire season, but they allowed Charlie Jones to get the ball. Iowa knew if they got the ball on the right side, they were going to cross the entire way across the field. They felt like they saw something. Boom, 100-yard touchdown return. So I think special teams is really what separates Iowa from most teams throughout college football, which is going to be really interesting. Lance, let's talk a little bit more about this.

I do want to remind folks that betonline.ag is your number one source for all betting needs this season. They have you covered this entire holiday season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. As football continues its march through the college bowl season and into the pro football playoffs. Again, BetOnline remains your number one spot for all the sports action this season. That's where you can place any of your bets at the Iowa-Kentucky game at betonline.ag. So if you haven't done this already, head over to their website or use your mobile device, sign up today and receive a 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit.

All you need to do is use the promo code locked on. That's L O C K E D O N for basketball, football, NHL, boxing, and UFC, right to your favorite Vegas casino games. Don't wait,

take advantage of all the amazing offers available for the 2021 season. That online is the fastest and the easiest way to bet on all your favorite sports. So don't wait to take advantage of all the new amazing offers available. And again, place your bets on this Iowa-Kentucky game at BetOnline.ag. BetOnline.ag, where the game starts. So Lance, we've talked a lot about Iowa. We talked a lot about Kentucky. Do you have any other questions for me before we kind of get into our, our, our thoughts and predictions for this game? My man. No, I kind of feel like

we both understand what these two teams are going to do coming into this matchup, right? Iowa, obviously a very physical team, defensive minded, like you said, special teams plays a big part in what they do. Uh, we've got some question marks revolving around the quarterback, obviously at Iowa, how that is going to play out. And then on the Kentucky side of things, I think I just keep coming back to the question, can we not turn the ball over? Right? Because if we don't, we're going to have a shot to win the game. So that's my biggest concern for Kentucky is not turning the ball over.

For Iowa, actually, I will ask you this question. What is your biggest concern for the Hawkeyes? Our ability to block. So we have had a revolving door at the tackle position. We have a guy, a former tight end three-star recruit who got converted to offensive tackle, hasn't figured it out to this point. Jack Plum, anyone who's listened to my shows, I have almost never spoken super highly about Jack Plum. It has been mostly all bad. I hate ragging on a young adult, but it's just been bad.

You also have Nick DeYoung, who's a former walk-on, also hasn't been great. They've had moments. Jack Plum has played pretty well down the stretch. Nick DeYoung played better in the early part of the season. Then you have a redshirt freshman at the other tackle spot. Against Michigan, just to give you some context to how bad, and granted, Aiden Hutchinson is going to be a top five pick more than likely, or top 10 pick, but just how bad our tackles were. We just resorted to chop blocking Aiden Hutchinson. We didn't try to block him. We just went at his knees and try getting the ball out

within two seconds because we're like, screw this. We cannot actually stop him. That's how bad we did from a tackle perspective. So that to me is honestly my biggest concern. If we can block and pass block effectively, Spencer Petras can be effective. He can be a solid quarterback. If we cannot block your defensive line, Spencer Petras is not going to be effective. He can't get out of the pocket. He's going to be rushing his decision-making.

To me, that's what it comes down to for our offensive side of the ball. Yeah, absolutely. I definitely think as somebody that I reside in Auburn, I've gotten to watch a little bit of Auburn football this season. Let me tell you something. You cannot operate an offense without an offensive line. It's very difficult to do so.

So, yeah, I definitely think that turnovers and then, like you just mentioned, Iowa's ability to block will be very important in this matchup. It kind of feels like, you know, I keep looking back and I'm like, I'm just so surprised that this could potentially be a 10-win Kentucky Wildcats team. And when you look at this game, no disrespect to Iowa, but I'm just kind of surprised. I'm like, these teams both won as many games as they did?

Like, it's just crazy to think that they have gotten this far. Talk to me about what it's taken for this Iowa Hawkeyes team to get to this point, just the heart that it took to win their division. Man, a lot of heart and a lot of luck. I don't want to act like they didn't earn it. They absolutely earned it. But when you look at some of the bounces that went their way and some of the things they were able to do, they went through a lot of adversity and they made big time plays in big time moments. I mean, they were down to Nebraska to the point where I was like, this game is ridiculous.

And they made an improbable comeback all starting with a blocked punt, then a safety. And then, I mean, it just, it just kind of spiraled out. I can grant you Nebraska does this in every single game, Minnesota, they got out gained by 200 yards. Minnesota was running the ball at will against Iowa. I've said this before. If I ever see a shotgun quick, like a quick toss again, I'm going to lose my freaking mind. I think Minnesota

ran it like 10 times in a row and got between six and 10 yards every single time. But Iowa stopped them in the red zone, had two big plays and somehow we win that game. So Penn State, I mean, Penn State was mostly just bottling up our offense. We called one amazing play at the perfect freaking time and we knock out their quarterback. Now, I don't want to take anything away from what Iowa did this season, but you got to call it. It is what it is. I mean, those are some pretty interesting breaks that went Iowa's way, but there is a ton of heart in this team. They don't give up. They don't stop fighting, which you got to appreciate. I'm curious from your

perspective, what did it take for Kentucky to get to this point? Well, I do think it also took a little bit of luck as well. I mean, finishing second in the SEC East, I mean, obviously the weaker division between the two in the Southeastern Conference, but it's still difficult to do so. And it took Florida having a down year in order to make that happen, but it's still difficult to do so. And it took Florida having a down year in order to make that happen, right? It's the first time that Kentucky had beaten Florida at home for the first time in 30 plus years. I mean, it was just a fantastic feat to be able to do that. And it was a relatively close game. But I will say it took Florida having a down year, you know, Tennessee was rebuilding, they managed to beat the Wildcats even so South Carolina's rebuilding right Vanderbilt is what they are um so it definitely just took

you know these other teams in the division not having fantastic years in order for Kentucky to be able to come out on top so I I do think that you know no disrespect to Kentucky want to credit them for the fact that they were able to actually go out and win those games and they are potentially on the verge of a 10 win season. But it felt like it did, like you said, not necessarily take a little bit of luck, but for these other teams around them to not necessarily have the success that they have in years past. Yeah. When you said that, the fact that you talk about the SEC East being, or is SEC West or East? SEC East for Kentucky and then the SEC West is more competitive. Yeah, so like the SEC East being the weaker division,

typically the Big Ten West is considered the weaker division. You look at Wisconsin, struggled down, you know, had a couple off games. Purdue is always Purdue and they're never going to figure it out. I mean, they always, they beat good teams, lose to bad teams.

Nebraska under Scott Frost, just honestly funny to watch. Minnesota loses to a few. I mean, so the exact same story on the Iowa side too. It's just, it's a very, it's very interesting how similar these programs are coming into this game. Who do you think wins this game? I'm going to be honest. If Iowa does create two turnovers, if Kentucky turns the ball over more than two times, I think Iowa wins. I think they went by seven or 10 points.

If that doesn't happen, I think Kentucky wins by three to seven. I will pick, I'll say Kentucky wins this game 24, 20. Uh, that, that will be my,

my final score prediction. But if Iowa does manage to get two turnovers or more, I really have a hard time picking the wildcats in this matchup. Yeah. I think, I think that's completely fair. I'm going to go Iowa. more, I really have a hard time picking the Wildcats in this matchup. Yeah, I think that's completely fair. I'm going to go Iowa. I got to stay kind of similar to you. I would say 21 to 17, 24 to 17. I mean, it's going to be a pretty close game. I think it's going to be relatively low scoring. The one thing I will call and mark my words, Kentucky will score a touchdown on their first drive. I almost guarantee it. Iowa allows a touchdown on their first drive I almost guarantee it Iowa allows a touchdown on their first drive almost every single game and that's when they make the adjustments to

figure things out but just as an FYI to all the Kentucky fans listening just you will probably march down the field and score a touchdown against Iowa on that first drive don't get too excited but just just FYI, because Iowa will figure out some adjustments and stuff like that, but every single team just – it's every single game. It doesn't matter if it's Colorado State, Wisconsin, Michigan. They are going to score a touchdown on the first drive. Well, if anybody's out there listening, go ahead and put your prize picks bets in on who's going to score that first

touchdown because there may not be a lot to come after. Absolutely. Well, Lance, I've absolutely enjoyed chatting with you. This Citrus Bowl is going to be very interesting. I can at least appreciate that we're playing a Kentucky team coached by a former Iowa guy, a team that is building off some really great stuff versus like a Mississippi State team who was, by all accounts, incredibly rude and disrespectful to everything about Iowa throughout the entire bowl process. So I can at least respect playing Kentucky two programs that I think a lot of teams cannot hate, per any means. So Lance, where can folks find you at?

Well, they can follow me on Twitter at DollPound. They can follow my show on Twitter at LockedOnUK as well. Awesome. And you can follow me on Twitter at doll pound. They can follow my show on Twitter at locked on UK as well. Awesome. And you can follow me at Wade underscore Andrew, and then also on YouTube and podcasting. We're everywhere by looking at locked on Hawkeyes. That will do it for our show today. I want to remind you all to check out the locked on bets podcast.

While we just gave you some advice on how to bet on Iowa versus Kentucky, definitely grab Kentucky to maybe get that first quarter. We gave you some ideas on how to bet the overall game and also doing some props and odds at prize picks. You can go to Locked on Bets podcast and get all the other games going on.

Lots of games, bowl season, NBA, the NFL playoffs. They got you covered there with your boy Q and handicapping expert Lee Sterling of Paramount Sports. They do a great job every single day at Locked on Bets podcast. That'll do it though for our show today. Have a fantastic day, y'all. And let's have a good game at the Citrus Bowl.