The Orange Bowl is over and Iowa looked strong! They held a Georgia Tech team that scores 44 points a game to a single offensive touchdown. Lots of players of note in this game.
The big matchup was Iowa OT Bryan Bulaga vs. Georgia Tech DE Derrick Morgan. The last time I saw Morgan, he played the entire game on the left side of the defensive line, so I wasn't expecting him to match up head-to-head with Bulaga very often. As it happened, Morgan flipped from one side to the other in this game, and although he played most of the game at left end, he matched up with Bulaga fairly frequently. How did it go? Although Morgan gave it a good effort, in my opinion Bulaga dominated him one-on-one.
Morgan had a very quiet game. I may have missed a few plays, but as far as I could tell, Morgan had only one tackle in the entire game, and that's when he chased Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi down after a six-yard gain. That was the only time he laid a hand on Stanzi all night. Morgan had no success at all against Bulaga, who put Morgan on the ground at least twice. Morgan looked better against the Iowa right tackle, senior Kyle Calloway, projected by NFL Draft Scout to be a third-round pick. Morgan beat him a few times, usually with a rip move on Calloway's inside shoulder, and once with a spin move, but Calloway succeeded in keeping him away from the quarterback.
It seemed to me that Morgan lacked the quickness to get outside on his man. Most of his pass rushes are simple bull rushes or the aforementioned rip move to the inside. He often successfully pushed past his man to put a little pressure on the quarterback, or chase him out of the pocket, but he was never a serious threat to sack him. Morgan relies more on his strength than his speed, and if he can't out-muscle his opponent, he can't beat him. I don't think there is any way that Morgan has the speed to play outside linebacker in a 3-4. On one third-and-long play in the fourth quarter, Morgan tried to chase Stanzi to the sideline. He finally dove at Stanzi's feet and missed the tackle. Stanzi gained nine yards and picked up the first down. Subsequently, Morgan took himself out of the game for a couple of plays and was seen on the sidelines trying to catch his breath. After that, it was hard to picture him trying to play linebacker.
Actually, my advice to Morgan would be to bulk up and play the three-technique in a 4-3 defense. He's pretty strong, and I seriously think he would be more successful in the NFL at defensive tackle than defensive end.
As for Bryan Bulaga, he had a terrific game given his role in the offense. He's SERIOUSLY strong and plays with very good balance. No one got past him to the passer, and he was a terror blocking down on running plays. The problem is that I can't say much about his mobility. He was never asked to pull, ever, and no one on the Georgia Tech defense challenged him with an outside pass rush. I suspect that he would be a good guard in the NFL, or possibly a right tackle, but I don't know if he has the athleticism to block speed rushers without strongside help in the NFL.
I did see a great performance by a defensive end in this game, but his name wasn't Morgan. Iowa junior Adrian Clayborn had a tremendous game, both against the run and against the pass. He jammed up the running game on the defensive right, chased plays to the sidelines, pressured the passer consistently, and had two sacks. He did most of his damage in the first half. In the second half, Georgia Tech double-teamed him on nearly every play, and he was considerably quieter. Still, I thought he was the best player on the field tonight. He's 6'3 285, quick off the mark, and has great closing speed on the quarterback or ballcarrier. He's indicated that he's going to stay in school, but after today's dominating performance he could change his mind. Rob Rang has said that he's a first-round pick when he comes out.
Iowa has a couple of senior linebackers who really stood out, too. I really liked the way they played. Middle linebacker Pat Angerer was tremendous, stuffing the middle all night long. NFL Draft Scout rates him as a fourth- or fifth-rounder, but he looked better than that to me tonight. Outside linebacker A.J. Edds, 6'4 245, really distinguished himself in pass coverage, defensing one pass and intercepting another. He was very agile for a man his size. NFL Draft Scout ranks him as a third- or fourth-round pick, and he could be a real steal for some team at that point in the draft.
On the Georgia Tech side, running back Jonathan Dwyer finally got a chance to show some of his upside in the second half. He's got a nice combination of power, moves, and speed, and he can catch the ball. He reminds me of Steve Jackson of the rams. But he also treated viewers to what could have been the bonehead play of the night. Deep in his own territory, he took a handoff to the right, and when nothing was there, he reversed his field. Finding defenders waiting for him, he drifted back into the endzone! In desperation, he broke three tackles in the endzone, including efforts by Clayborn and Angerer, and managed to get to the one-yard line before going down. I was actually impressed by his ability to avoid the safety, if not by his intelligence.
Georgia Tech only completed two passes in the entire game, and Dwyer caught both of them. That means that Georgia Tech's best receiver--Demaryius Thomas--was shut out.