Whenever the Iowa Hawkeyes get ready to play Nebraska, preparations are always intense and brisk. It’s a rivalry game that really matters, and this year was no different.

Iowa’s defense, which was really good for most of the year, knew that Adrian Martinez, Nebraska’s dynamic freshman quarterback, was scary good. They knew he could throw the ball against them with success, but they were very concerned about his running ability as well. That dual threat probably cost coaches and players alike a few sleepless nights.

Iowa won that regular-season finale on Nov. 23, beating Nebraska 31-28. But Martinez still had himself a day, throwing for 260 yards and two touchdowns and running for 76 yards and another score.

And now, in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla., on Jan. 1, the Hawkeyes get to see it all again — sort of. Their paired up with Mississippi State, and they’ve got a scary dual threat quarterback in Nick Fitzgerald. He might even be better than Martinez, at least right now.

Fitzgerald is a mobile quarterback who has 1,018 yards rushing this season on 201 carries, by far the Bulldogs’ leading rusher. The running backs — Kylin Hill (691)  and Aeris Williams (502) weren’t even close.

In pregame workouts, Iowa is learning all about how important Fitzgerald’s running ability is. Against Kansas State, Louisiana, Auburn, LSU, Louisiana Tech, and Ole Miss, Fitzgerald ran for more than 100 yards himself. Mississippi State won all those games.

In the Mississippi State losses against Kentucky, Florida, and Alabama, he was held to under 50 yards and scored only one touchdown in the three games combined.

That’s how obvious it is. Slow down Fitzgerald, and you can beat Mississippi State. That’s a lot like the blueprint in beating Nebraska.

There is one huge difference here, though, in deterring Iowa’s ability to win this game. Stopping Fitzgerald, who has been very iffy passing the ball, is just one part of the equation. It’s very possible that Iowa can shut down Fitzgerald and the Bulldogs offense. They just might hold them to 17 points in the early New Year’s Day game.

The other half of the equation is figuring out if Iowa can score enough points against Mississippi State’s No. 1-ranked scoring defense to pull out a win. That’s the other half of the challenge.

But for Iowa’s defense, they see what they have to defend. And they’ve seen it before, so this should be anything new. They saw it with Martinez, and they’ve seen it in Fitzgerald’s final regular season game, too.

Playing with a bad sprained ankle against Ole Miss, their bitter in-state rival, Fitzgerald ran for 117 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-3 win. He also passed for 111 yards and another touchdown.

He’s a tough kid. Iowa will need to be ready.