MIAMI - It was breakfast time, and Iowa Hawkeyes defensive coordinator Norm Parker sat at a table trying to explain the challenge of stopping Georgia Tech's triple option.
Parker waved his cup of morning coffee.
"This is the quarterback," he said.
He grabbed a jug of orange juice.
"That's the fullback," he said.
An empty glass became a defensive end, and a water bottle became a linebacker. Soon Parker was pushing the containers around, trying to contain the Yellow Jackets.
That will be the goal for Iowa in the Orange Bowl tonight.
"If you're a football purist, this thing is really sort of fun," said Parker, a coach for 45 years. "This triple-option stuff sort of started in the late '60s. Georgia Tech has taken this offense and made it better and better and better. And when a lot of people got away from the triple option, they stayed with it. So now what was very common is sort of new.
"I'm having fun preparing for it. But all the fun I'm having now might not be that much fun (tonight)."
For opponents, playing the No. 9-ranked Yellow Jackets (11-2) can be no fun at all. Tech ranks second in the nation in rushing yards per game at 307.2, 11th in total offense at 442.7 yards and 11th in scoring at 35.3 points.
No. 10-ranked Iowa (10-2) relied on a stingy defense to earn a Bowl Championship Series berth for the first time in seven years. The Hawkeyes rank 10th in scoring defense at 15.5 points per game, and 11th in total defense at 286.7 yards.
But this is the first time in Kirk Ferentz's 11 years as head coach that the Hawkeyes have faced a triple option. It may help that they've had a month to prepare for the Yellow Jackets.
"The good news is we've had time," Ferentz said. "The bad news is we can't come close to simulating what they do with the precision, speed and the expertise. We're getting a lot of looks at it, I guess; it's just not the look we'll be seeing, that's for sure."
For the Hawkeyes, other bowl results are ominous. Navy and Air Force also run the triple option, and both won New Year's Eve games, scoring a combined 82 points.
In Tech's triple option, Yellow Jackets quarterback Josh Nesbitt, who ran for 991 yards and 18 touchdowns this season, keeps, hands off on a dive play or pitches wide. Tech's biggest threat is junior Jonathan Dwyer, who topped 1,300 yards rushing for the second consecutive season and has 36 career touchdowns.
"Words can't describe how exciting the offense is to be a part of - to know in any part of the game a big play is going to happen," Dwyer said.
Not all of Tech's big plays come on the ground. They're averaging 23.2 yards per completion and have gained at least 50 yards on passes 11 times. Tech's Demaryius Thomas, who has totaled 1,154 yards on only 46 receptions, frowned when asked what it's like to play on a team known for its ground game.
"You get used to it," Thomas said. Then he smiled. "When I get my chances, I take advantage of them."