The New Year begins with the Iowa Hawkeye’s first appearance in the Rose Bowl in 25 years. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and the rest of the team have been in California since Christmas Eve preparing for this game. He was asked this week about the long drought since the Hawkeyes have played in this game. He says it is a bit of a factor, but says the team has played in a lot of big games, especially this season.

Thousands of Hawkeye fans started pouring in around midweek, and there’s expected to be a healthy amount of black and gold in the stadium. Ferentz says the atmosphere could be similar to what they saw in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship game. “We anticipate a really enthusiastic following here, our fans have been tremendous historically,” Ferentz says.

Stanford was in back-to-back Rose Bowls in 2013 and 2014, but Coach David Shaw says that doesn’t diminish the excitement of playing in this one. He got a laugh after saying he expects there will be a few Stanford fans at the game. Shaw says being in the game more recently than Iowa won’t be any big advantage today, as it will be the same atmosphere. “There’s an energy in the air, there’s an excitement in the air. There’s clear lines of delineation based on the apparel of which side is for which team, and both sides are energetic and passionate,” Shaw says. “I’ve run out on the field in a couple of big games before — there’s still nothing like running out on the field in the Rose Bowl.”

He says it will be the same for the players, they will feel the emotion of the stadium and the moment. “There’s nothing that’s old hat — so whether you’ve been here once or you’ve been here three times — you feel how special it is on that game day,” Shaw says. Former Iowa quarterback and now Big Ten Network analyst, Chuck Long knows what it will be like when Iowa’s C.J. Beathard goes under center to take a snap for the first time in the Rose Bowl.

“It’s an adrenalin rush, he’s going to feel that adrenaline rush, he’ll feel it in pre-game warmup, that’s when you start to feel it with the crowd coming in, and just the scene from the Rose Bowl floor is not like any other nationally,” Long says. “He’s a first year starting quarterback going to a big bowl game, not like my case where I started off with the Peach Bowl…and then the Gator Bowl and the Rose Bowl.” But Long expects Beathard to handle that initial adrenaline rush and play well.

“Just being around him, he’s going to handle it well. He’s got great demeanor, he’s been around football all his life,” according to Long. Former Hawkeye and now radio analyst Ed Podolack, is expecting a rugged game. He says it will be similar to the game with Michigan State where both teams will try to make the other give up. “There’s not going to be too much in the way of fancy football, it’s going to be who wants it, who has trained the best. So, I think it ends up being an exciting type of football for me to watch, because it is blocking and tackling,” Podolack says. He say his one big concern is the return game of Stanford.

“At times I think we have been inefficient at punting the ball this year. I don’t think that you can punt the ball to their team and not expect to get hurt,” Poldolack says, He says the coaches have probably addressed that and will likely punt the ball toward the sidelines. Fifth ranked Stanford will be looking for their 12 win against two loses. While the sixth-ranked Hawkeyes are looking for their 13th win against one loss. Kickoff is at 4:10 p-m Iowa time. Pregame coverage on KJAN begins at 2-p.m.

(Radio Iowa)

Thousands of Iowans traveled to Long Beach, California Thursday for a pep rally on board the U-S-S Iowa. Many kids toured the ships with their parents, including ten-year old Zander Schuett. “It’s very cool to see all the cannons and everything,” Zander says. Brother Nile Shuett says it’s a piece of history. He says it’s amazing that the ship is in the same shape that it was in when it was used in World War Two. Their father Clay Schuett had much the same reaction.

“I think it is fantastic to see the size of the 16 inch guns, it’s just amazing, just very impressive, very cool. Great to see the crowd out here too, see all the Hawkeye fans,” Clay Schuett says. Jim from the Quad Cities was walking along the deck with some friends. “Oh it’s really neat, it was worth the trip alone,” he says. Cory Kusick of North Liberty brought her kids to California for the game, and said they had to see the battleship too. “It’s amazing, it’s massive, amazing, the whole thing has been a really neat experience,” Kusick says. Her son Ben Kusick was also impressed.

He says he can’t imagine being on the ship for the amount of time sailors were aboard. Zack Kusick says the size of the ship stood out. Battleship Larry is a tour guide aboard the U-S-S Iowa. He got his name from his service on another battleship. “I served on the Missouri, so that kind of drew me to the ship,” he says. People who tour the ship can learn all about its history. He says you can see the 16 inch guns, and see where the three presidents who were carried on the ship stayed, as well as a list of all the crew members who served on board the ship through 1990. He says the Iowa was a first of its kind.

“This is the prototype of the Iowa class, this is the Iowa class that started the other ships, the Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, Wisconsin,” according to Larry. The Iowans enjoyed food and music along with the tours of the ship, and got to witness the firing of one of the smaller guns on the ship. The State of Iowa help save its namesake battleship from the scrap heap and the U-S-S Iowa is open free to Iowa residents throughout the year.

(Radio Iowa)

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – Ron Baker scored 14 points, Fred VanVleet added 13, and Wichita State beat Drake 67-47 on Thursday for its eighth straight victory. Baker was 3 of 4 from 3-point range as Wichita State made 8 of 24 from distance. Zach Brown added 10 points for Wichita State (7-5), which has won six straight Missouri Valley Conference openers.

Kale Abrahamson hit a 3-pointer for Drake to tie it at 25-all before Wichita State closed on an 8-0 run, with a Baker 3-pointer, for a 33-25 halftime lead. The Shockers started the second half on a 13-2 run, with balanced scoring from VanVleet, Brown and Anton Grady, as Drake only made one field goal in the first six minutes.

Abrahamson and Graham Woodward scored 12 points apiece for Drake (5-8). The Bulldogs were held to 16-of-43 shooting (37 percent), were outrebounded 38-28 and turned it over 18 times.