VRBO CITRUS BOWL: IOWA VS KENTUCKY

December 5, 2021

Dane Belton

Camping World Stadium

Iowa Hawkeyes

Press Conference

Q. Dane, thank you for joining us. We appreciate you taking the time. How are you feeling about your bowl trip this season? Looking forward to your trip to Orlando?

DANE BELTON: Definitely. Being able to go home, close to home, is a good opportunity. I felt like we got a good bowl based on how good our season was. This is a good opportunity for our team.

THE MODERATOR: Dane, when you were at Jesuit, did you ever have a chance to play a championship game at Camping World Stadium?

DANE BELTON: I didn't. I went to the semifinal three times in my four years there, and we didn't quite get that far. Actually right now, they just won two nights ago, so they'll be going to the state championship. I know it's not there anymore, but it's good for my high school for sure.

Q. Dane, I'm wondering if you could remember much about facing Wan'Dale Robinson, Kentucky's top receiver, when he was at Nebraska. Obviously, he did a lot of different things for them. What do you remember about him as a player?

DANE BELTON: Definitely. He was very elusive. He got a lot of quick passes. He'd get in open space and make something happen. He's a great player. That's probably what I remember most from him is we had to be good at tackling, our coverage, and all of the above.

Q. How do you kind of mentally adjust from having a disappointing loss yesterday to having still one more game to play for this season?

DANE BELTON: I feel like that's what you have to do as a football player. You have a short-term memory. We have a 24-hour rule where you look back on the game, evaluate yourself, evaluate how we played, and after that, we move on. I feel like right now we're in the 24-hour rule. Once that's over, we're looking forward to our next opportunity.

We have a great opportunity coming up to finish out the season as this group of guys. Last game we'll ever play together, and I feel like that's what we do. We'll go hit the practice field and get back to working.

Q. Have you had a chance to look back at last night's video yet? Are you guys just kind of moving on for a few days just to not worry about football specifically right now?

DANE BELTON: We get a couple of days off as a team to regroup, recover. I looked at the film by myself, and I know a lot of players have as well. But we haven't watched it together as a team.

Q. On a side note, I wanted to ask you about, just getting back to Florida, you guys had a bowl game canceled in Tennessee last year. Your first year you played in California. Now getting, what, probably two hours from home, something like that, how does that make you feel? Are you already getting hit up for ticket requests?

DANE BELTON: It's a great opportunity, being able to play anywhere close to home. It's like an hour and a half in Orlando, very close. I definitely have been getting hit up. My mom talked to me about it this morning right when she landed back home from Indiana. She was just talking about how a lot of people are trying to come so be ready for that.

We'll handle that when the time comes. For now, they just told me to recover and just relax. It's definitely a great opportunity to be close to home and have a lot of family come to the games. Just to be so far away from home in Iowa. Just to play close is great.

Q. I wanted to ask you, as a third-year player, a junior, you could explore the NFL option, at least get the feedback. Is that something you're going to do here in the coming weeks? How are you approaching that, if you are?

DANE BELTON: To be honest, I haven't really given it much thought. I was just focused on the season. If I have an opportunity to see the evaluation, I might explore that. It can't hurt. At the end of the day, my focus is on this last game we have together as a team. That's just what I'm thinking right now.

That time will come. There's a time and place for everything. I feel like right now we have a great opportunity at our hands, and to capitalize on that is what my mind is on.

Q. I remember you came down to Tampa to watch a bowl practice back when you were a senior in high school, is that right?

DANE BELTON: Yes, sir.

Q. Of course Iowa was playing an SEC team then. You have never played an SEC team. Is that something that gives you a little excitement, I guess, going into this game?

DANE BELTON: It gives a little excitement. But at the end of the day, whoever we play is going to be a good competition and a good opportunity. It could be SEC, Big Ten, or Big 12 or Pac-12 or anybody. I feel like the bowl game we're in is a great bowl, and we're going to have good competition no matter who it is.

Kentucky is a great team as well. We have to bring our A-game and prepare regardless. I definitely think it's a good opportunity.

Q. You played Will Levis last year at Penn State. What do you remember about that preparation, and what type of player was he? You guys seemed to do pretty well against him.

DANE BELTON: He was a tough guy. They used him in the run game a lot. Little scheme plays and things like that. We'll have to be ready for that. He commands the offense well. He can toss the ball around a little bit. He runs and has an extra blocker. We'll have to be physical, like we pride ourselves on, and just go from there.

I feel like we might incorporate a lot of things that we did against him at Penn State. Also, he has a new coordinator, so we'll have to do some new things as well. Overall, he's a great player.

Q. Is there an added meaning to getting to play in a bowl game after not having a game in 2020? Is there kind of added meaning more than what Citrus Bowl would otherwise mean to you?

DANE BELTON: I wouldn't say added meaning. I feel like any time we have the opportunity to go to a bowl game, it's just a reflection on how we played during the season. So we have good competition, and we'll be ready as a team.

It kind of is just not being able to go to a bowl last year, you see the banner up there in our indoor, and it doesn't say champions even though we didn't get to play in it. We want to go out there this year and get a banner that says champions, so we see that as extra motivation.

I feel like we're going to go out and give it our all as an opportunity together. One more time to play one last game, so I feel like we're going to be ready.