CFB Bowl Preview 2025: Reliaquest Bowl
By George Somerville
Bowl season is in full swing and we will be previewing some of the bigger matchups over the next couple of weeks. This year’s Reliaquest Bowl will be contested between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Vanderbilt Commodores. George takes a look at the key matchups.
Where and When
The Iowa Hawkeyes take on the Vanderbilt Commodores in the Reliaquest Bowl at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida on Wednesday 31st at 12.00pm ET/5.00pm UK. The game is being broadcast by ESPN, and in the UK you can watch on DAZN Sports.
Story So Far...
Originally the Hall of Fame Bowl and then the Outback Bowl, The Reliaquest Bowl is the annual Bowl match-up between invitees from the BIG10 and SEC and has been played since 1995. In its previous guise as the Hall of Fame Bowl, the game was played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, from 1997 to 1985.
Vanderbilt’s football season has been well documented. A 10-2 winning season had the Commodores narrowly miss out on a place in the College Football Playoffs. The Commodores’ season, the fifth under Head Coach Clark Lea, has been a sensational one – building on some surprising results from the previous season, notably beating Alabama for the first time in Vanderbilt history. This season, the Commodores have the opportunity to do what no other Vanderbilt team has done before. An eleven-win season has never happened in the history of the University.
Further North in Iowa, the 2025/26 season started well. Six wins by the end of October raised high hopes; however, defeats to USC and Oregon left the Hawkeyes with an 8-4 record.
This is another Bowl game in which the participants have never met before. Not surprising, given that Vanderbilt has not been a regular participant in Bowl games.
Iowa is no stranger to Tampa, with this game being their sixth under current Head Coach Kirk Ferentz. On the other hand, Vanderbilt is a relative newcomer to The Big Guava (Tampa), making only their second appearance in the city.
The Quarterbacks
VANDERBILT: DIEGO PAVIA
What’s left to say about Pavia that hasn’t already been written? The Heisman runner-up has proved the doubters wrong, and Pavia leaves Vanderbilt holding a pocketful of records, both school- and nationally. Pavia’s final season in Nashville has seen him accumulate 3,192 passing yards and 27 touchdowns. He has also rushed for a further 826 yards and nine touchdowns this season. There is no doubt that Pavia has left a mark on Vanderbilt which will not be forgotten for a long time.
IOWA: MARK GRONOWSKI
Gronowski is a very different type of quarterback from Pavia. The Hawkeyes’ QB has thrown only 8 touchdowns this year; however, he has 15 rushing touchdowns. The Senior from Illinois has the benefit of operating behind the best O-line in college football. The Hawkeyes O-line was awarded this year’s Joe Moore Award. As a result, Gronowski has 52 rushing touchdowns across his Iowa career, making him a dangerous dual-threat QB for the Vandy defense to face. The Hawkeyes QB scored a touchdown in the first 10 games of this season, which is the longest streak by a BIG10 quarterback of all time.
Who to Watch
VANDERBILT
Bryan Longwell, Linebacker : While much of the focus and rightly so has been on the Commodores’ offense, it is on the defensive side of the ball that the most improvement has been seen. Linebacker Longwell has had another stellar season and remains Vanderbilt’s top tackler for the second successive season with 68 tackles and nine tackles for loss. Longwell will be key against an Iowa QB who likes to run with the ball.
IOWA
Nathan McNeil, Running Back – Bowl games are a good opportunity for those players further down the depth chart to make people sit up and take notice. Nathan McNeil at running back has had a great true freshman season in Iowa. McNeil recorded 37 carries for 169 yards, giving him a PFF score of 77.2. Given the strength of the Hawkeyes’ running back room, it is clear the coaching staff think highly of him—definitely one to watch.
Prediction
Depending on your viewpoint, this game is certainly a battle between good and evil, Yin or Yang or defense vs offense, if you like. Iowa would like nothing better than to bring Vanderbilt’s extraordinary season to a screeching halt. While it’s easy to say that the Hawkeyes are a defensive juggernaut – they are – their offensive line is so strong that their quarterback has time and space to turn on the jet burners to create havoc.
Pavia remains a real threat and an unpredictable one at that. However, Diego will have to inflict damage on the Hawkeyes without his favourite target, Eli Stowers, who followed Pavia from New Mexico. Stowers has declared for the draft and is the only Vanderbilt player to opt out of this game.
Unlike other bowl games with high numbers of opt-outs, both teams will have almost full rosters to choose from, which speaks volumes about the culture at both programs.
Even though Vanderbilt plays without Stowers, I believe that the opportunity to deliver an eleven-win season, the first in Vanderbilt history, is the biggest driver to a Commodores victory.
Final score: Vanderbilt 27 – Iowa 17
George Somerville
COLLEGE FOOTBALL ANALYST
GEORGE IS A LONG STANDING FANATIC OF LIFE AND FOOTBALL IN THE DEEP SOUTH AND WRITES HIS WEEKLY COLUMN CALLED “IT’S ONLY SEC” FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. HE IS ALSO CO-HOST AND ONE THIRD OF THE COLLEGE CHAPS PODCAST, THE UK’S FIRST PODCAST DEDICATED TO THE COLLEGE GAME.