Iowa HC Kirk Ferentz recalls a couple of Vols legends while previewing matchup against Tennessee

The Tennessee Vols will end the 2023 season with a Citrus Bowl matchup against the Iowa Hawkeyes. 

On Sunday afternoon, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, who is in his 25th season as the head coach of the Hawkeyes, spoke with reporters about his team's matchup against Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl. And he recalled a couple of Vols legends while previewing the game. 

"We played Kentucky two straight years, so we do have some familiarity, but certainly weren’t looking at them from a game plan standpoint," said Ferentz while speaking with reporters. "Nice thing about playing on January 1 as well. Plenty of time to look at them. But I’ll go back to my first experience playing Tennessee. It was 1982 in the Peach Bowl. One guy, I remember that, Reggie White...Willie Gault. Some pretty good players. We had a great game with them. And you follow them through the years just a really good program. So it’s gonna be a big challenge for us. We know that.”

Ferentz was an offensive line coach for Iowa when the Hawkeyes played the Vols in the 1982 Peach Bowl in Atlanta, which was the first ever meeting between the two programs. 

Iowa won the game, which was played in Fulton County Stadium, 28-22 on a frigid December night. Gault scored on a 19-yard reception in the third quarter to get the Vols within nine points. Tennessee would add a field goal before ultimately coming up short. 

Tennessee and Iowa have played two times since that peach Bowl matchup and Ferentz was on the sideline for each of those games. 

The Vols beat Iowa 23-22 in 1987 in Giants Stadium in the first game of the season (Ferentz was Iowa's offensive line coach that season). 

Tennessee also beat Iowa 45-28 in the 2015 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville (Ferentz was Iowa's head coach). 

The Citrus Bowl matchup between the Vols and the Hawkeyes will kick off at 1:00 PM ET on New Year's Day.