Kentucky football to play Iowa in the Music City Bowl

Mike Organ, Nashville Tennessean
·3 min read
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The Kentucky football team will return to the TransPerfect Music City Bowl for the sixth time and face Iowa, which will play in the game for the first time.

The 25th annual bowl will be played on New Year's Eve (11 a.m., ABC) at Nissan Stadium.

Kentucky (7-5), the SEC representative in the bowl, is playing in its seventh consecutive bowl game. The Wildcats bounced back after losing to Vanderbilt (24-21) and Georgia (16-6) to beat Louisville (26-13) in the final game of the regular season.

Iowa (7-5), the Big Ten representative, won four of its last five games.

The game will be a rematch of the 2021 Vbro Citrus Bowl, which Kentucky won 20-17.

"It's a match-up for us in Nashville that is pretty exciting," Music City Bowl President Scott Ramsey said. "You've got two very loyal fan bases very accessible to our city with a Saturday, Dec. 31, game. From Iowa's standpoint, it's the first time we've ever hosted them. And in our 25th anniversary, the chance to host Kentucky and while it's their sixth time here, it's only their second time in the last 13 years they've been in our game."

Kentucky has played in the Music City Bowl more often than any other team and is 2-3 in its five previous trips. The Wildcats lost to Syracuse in the second-annual Music City Bowl in 1999 then claimed back-to-back wins over Clemson in 2006 and Florida State in 2007. They lost in their last two trips to Clemson in 2009 and Northwestern in 2017.

Some of the largest crowds in the bowl have shown up when Kentucky played. The average attendance in the Wildcats' five games was 60,372.

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"I'll take than kind of average crowd any day," Ramsey said.

Kentucky also features Barion Brown, a freshman wide receiver from Pearl-Cohn. Brown is the Wildcats' leading receiver with 45 catches for 604 yards and four touchdowns.

Iowa was set to play in the Music Bowl in 2020 against Missouri, but the game was canceled three days before the scheduled kickoff due to COVID-19 in Missouri's program. The Hawkeyes have been invited to 10 consecutive bowl games.

Kentucky had to rally to beat Iowa in the 2021 Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. In the final 3:31, Will Levis completed three passes for 84 yards to get the Wildcats, who were trailing 17-13, in scoring position. Chris Rodriquez then scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 6-yard run with 1:48 remaining.

Kentucky linebacker Deandre Square sealed the win with an interception at the Wildcats' 26 with 48 seconds left to play.

"We think this will be a great match-up on the field, but also a great opportunity for us to fill the city and fill the stadium and create a great environment for players," Ramsey said.

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

Kentucky wide receiver Barion Brown (2) throws down the Ls after scoring a touchdown against Louisville in the third quarter. The Wildcats beat the No. 25 Cards 26-13 in Saturday's Battle of the Bluegrass college football game. Nov. 26, 2022.
Kentucky wide receiver Barion Brown (2) throws down the Ls after scoring a touchdown against Louisville in the third quarter. The Wildcats beat the No. 25 Cards 26-13 in Saturday's Battle of the Bluegrass college football game. Nov. 26, 2022.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Kentucky football to play Iowa in Music City Bowl