Iowa beats Boston College in a surprisingly entertaining Pinstripe bowl

Iowa 27, Boston College 20.

It’s the first bowl win since 2010 for Kerentz, and his 143rd overall which ties legendary Iowa coach Hayden Fry for the most in Hawkeye history. He also gets a nice chunk of change too.

This game wasn’t supposed to be fun. Two teams that run offenses which certainly aren’t prolific in freezing temperatures on a field with poor footing. That’s not a recipe for a game worth writing home about. But in the end, this game was actually kinda fun.

1:18, Iowa 27, Boston College 20.

Unlike the one they scored a TD on, this tip drill doesn’t end up going well for Boston College.

Boston College would get the ball back, but were unable to do anything with is in a Hail Mary situation.

3:09, Iowa 27, Boston College 20.

The Hawkeyes are back in the lead on a three-play lightning drive down the field. Akrum Wadley’s 27-yard run setup a pass play that looked like it scored. The play was overturned after review, and Wadley scored on the next play for the go-ahead score.

11:32, Iowa 20, Boston College 20.

Right after talking about how stagnant BC’s offense had been, they hit this 48-yard pass play to get into the red zone.

The problem is, they couldn’t do anything with that field position and ended up tying the game on a field goal.

11:32, Iowa 20, Boston College 17.

Iowa’s put its foot down on the field, and are on a 10-0 run in the second half. Here’s a snapshot of how things have gone for BC up until now.

7:11, Boston College 17, Iowa 17.

Akrum Wadley punches it in from five yards out to tie the game for the Hawkeyes. Nobody told Wadley that the footing’s bad and that he shouldn’t be effectively running the ball today.

Boston College 17, Iowa 10.

It’s about 27 combined points more than you thought you’d see, but both these teams have somehow come together to stage a pretty entertaining game of pigskin so far. Footing’s been terrible, but both teams haven’t abandoned the pass and special teams plays have made the field position battle wonky.

But what’s really wonky is the weather. It is cold in New York City.

It’s forcing the teams to switch out of cleats and into sneakers.

1:25, Boston College 17, Iowa 10.

9:35, Boston College 14, Iowa 10.

Tip drill for a BC TD!

13:18, Iowa 10, Boston College 7.

The Hawkeyes put a TD on the board after a long kick return from RB Akrum Wadley. The eight-yard pass from Nate Stanley means the Hawkeyes weren’t going to waste good field positioning this time around.

:05, Boston College 7, Iowa 3.

12:59, Iowa 3, Boston College 0.

The Hawkeyes got a big interception that landed them in the red zone but couldn’t punch it in the end zone.

The last several Pinstripe Bowls have been excellent, and while that’s no guarantee the Iowa Hawkeyes and Boston College Eagles will combine for an instant classic, it should be a good bowl game.

It will be cold, probably windy, and the running game could be a big deal in the game. Neither team has been hugely successful on the ground on the national level, but there are some good runners involved overall. Akrum Wadley leads Iowa with 230 carries for 1,021 yards, while AJ Dillon leads Boston College with 268 carries for 1,432 yards.

Dillon is the standout among them. He’s a powerful runner, a workhorse who could be dominant in a game that will be hard to pass in for either team. Iowa has been good against the run for much of the season, though standout running backs have given them fits, with the likes of Saquon Barkley and Jonathan Taylor finding success.

That means all eyes will, once again, be on Josey Jewell, the tackling machine. He has 31 tackles in the last three Iowa bowl games, and he should get a healthy amount on Wednesday as well.

Below is all you need to know to follow the action.

Iowa is the narrow favorite, and it’s a smart pick. It’s the better all-around team, and should win, but if Dillon gets going, he’ll be hard to stop.

Be sure to check out all our bowl predictions here.