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Iowa To Face South Carolina In Outback Bowl

The Associated Press

The Outback Bowl will be a homecoming of sorts for Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier, the former Gators' coach and Heisman Trophy winner.

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By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 7, 2008

TAMPA - One team is hot. The other team is not.

But the Outback Bowl believes it has a winning combination for the New Year's Day game at Raymond James Stadium.

Sunday afternoon, official invitations were extended to the Big Ten's Iowa Hawkeyes (8-4) and the SEC's South Carolina Gamecocks (7-5).

Iowa, making its third trip to Tampa, has won five of its last six games, including a 24-23 victory against Rose Bowl-bound Penn State (11-1). The Hawkeyes are led by running back Shonn Greene, the nation's second-leading rusher with an Iowa-record 1,729 yards and 17 touchdowns, who still has an opportunity to overtake Connecticut's Donald Brown (1,822), since bowl-game statistics now count toward the season's total.

Greene, the only player in the nation to rush for at least 100 yards in every game, received the Chicago Tribune's Silver Football, emblematic of the Big Ten Conference's Most Valuable Player.

South Carolina, also making its third trip to Tampa, arrives with sputter after dropping games against Florida (56-6) and state rival Clemson (31-14). It's a homecoming of sorts for Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier, the former Gators' coach and Heisman Trophy winner. Spurrier was the first quarterback in Bucs' franchise history (1976).

He was also head coach of the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits from 1983-85. When the league folded, he began his career as a college head coach, first at Duke, then at Florida.

Speaking of homecomings, Spurrier already announced that redshirt freshman quarterback Stephen Garcia, of Jefferson High School, would start South Carolina's bowl game. The Gamecocks also feature cornerback Stoney Woodson, of Middleton High School.

Outback Bowl tickets are $65 and can be purchased through Ticketmaster at (813) 287-8844 or www.ticketmaster.com. For more Outback Bowl information, call the bowl office at (813) 874-2695 or log onto www.outbackbowl.com.

Reporter Joey Johnston can be reached at (813) 259-7353.

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