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Iowa doesn’t have conservative plans for Desmond King in the Outback Bowl
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In a vacuum, it would make sense.
Desmond King is ticketed for NFL millions and he isn’t playing in a national title. Recent history suggests that the All-American cornerback would be a prime candidate to bow out of Iowa’s Outback Bowl matchup with Florida.
But that logic doesn’t work for King. After all, he was the guy who came back for his senior season after winning the Jim Thorpe Award as the best defensive back in college football.
King came back to finish, and that’s exactly what he’ll do. He’ll play in the Outback Bowl in the same capacity he has all year.
Even better for Iowa, he’ll help in the return game:
Desmond King not only will play CB in Outback Bowl, but will return kicks. Not worried about injury risk.
— MarkEmmert (@MarkEmmert) December 22, 2016
That’ll be a major lift to an Iowa offense that struggled to generate much of anything for much of 2016.
Knowing that will be King’s approach will also squash any notion that he’ll play on a snap count on defense. It also means the lackluster Florida offense will have to operate against one of the top cover-corners in the country.
Iowa is looking to snap its recent skid of four straight bowl losses. The Hawkeyes are treating this with a more business-like approach and cutting down the length of the trip several days.
It’s safe to say Iowa is taking the Outback Bowl as seriously as possible.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.