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Will Indiana football finally end postseason drought in 2020 Gator Bowl?

By Shane Lunnen

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - NOVEMBER 30: Reakwon Jones #7 of the Indiana Hoosiers holds the Old Oaken Bucket following the double overtime win over the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on November 30, 2019 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - NOVEMBER 30: Reakwon Jones #7 of the Indiana Hoosiers holds the Old Oaken Bucket following the double overtime win over the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on November 30, 2019 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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Indiana football and Tennessee meet for only the second time all-time. Can the Hoosiers finally obtain a long elusive bowl victory?

Motivation will not be lacking as both Indiana and Tennessee are making their first bowl appearances since the end of the 2016 season. The only other meeting between the two schools occurred in the 1987 Peach Bowl, a 27-22 Vols victory.

Tennessee was essentially left for dead after a 1-4 start to the season. The Vols won six of their final seven games to get to bowl eligibility. This will be the first bowl game for second year head coach Jeremy Pruitt. If Tennessee wins the Gator Bowl, it will make six straight wins for the Vols and they will have a lot of positive vibes heading into the off season.

Indiana finished this season at 8-4 and even were even ranked in the AP poll in November. This is only the 12th bowl appearance all time for Indiana and they have not won a post season bowl since the 1991 Copper Bowl, which is now known as the Cheez It Bowl. The Hoosiers are just itching to seize the opportunity and make history.

Date: Thursday, Jan. 2
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Jacksonville, Fla.
Venue: TIAA Bank Field
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

The Hoosiers are a very balanced team. At 7-2, quarterback Michael Penix went down with a season ending injury. And while the Hoosiers lost two of their final three games, the passing game worked tremendously against Penn State. Peyton Ramsey threw for 371 yards against the Nittany Lions and delivered another 337 yard performance in the win against rival Purdue.

In the Indiana backfield is sophomore running back Stevie Scott and he had solid year with 845 yards and 10 touchdowns. The big thing for the Hoosiers is to win the time of possession battle. Indiana converted 48% of the third down conversions, a stat that will certainly help them in maintaining the ball.

For Tennessee, their offense finally started to click in the latter half of the season. However quarterback Jarrett Guarantano was inconsistent and even lost his starting job early in the season only to gain it back by delivering good performances off the bench. Guarantano has an outstanding group of receivers to deliver the ball to. It will be up to him whether he can do that successfully.

Betting Odds

Odds courtesy of The Action Network

Point spread: Tennessee -1.5
Over/Under: 53

Prediction

This appears to be an interesting match up between two evenly matched teams. Tennessee had problems early in the season but did a good job of correcting course and righting the ship including wins against three teams that went bowling (Missouri would have been a fourth had they been eligible).

It was a good season for the Hoosiers and a victory would give them a nine win season for the first time since the 1967 season. The biggest stat of them all in the match up is all of the Hoosiers victories came against teams that finished the season with five wins or less. It will be close, but the Hoosiers will still be pursuing their elusive bowl victory after the Gator Bowl.

Final Score:  Tennessee 27, Indiana 24

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