TAMPA, Fla. — From carrying couches to an All-American carrying a football. Now, Big Ten MVP Shonn Greene figures he’s ready for the next level.
The Iowa tailback turned Thursday’s Outback Bowl into a farewell party, leading the Hawkeyes past South Carolina 31-10 and then announcing he intends to skip his senior season to enter the NFL draft.
“I don’t think there’s really a lot more I can do here,” Greene said. “People talk about the Heisman, but I think that’s a lot of politics, so I just figure I’ll try my chances.”
Greene ran for 121 yards and three touchdowns Thursday. He rushed for more than 100 yards in all 13 of Iowa’s games, scored in all but one, and won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back.
“He’s been the same guy each and every week,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said, using words like “humble” and “modest” to describe the 235-pound junior, who worked at a furniture store and didn’t play football while attending community college to improve his grades.
Greene, of Sicklerville, N.J., finished with school single-season records of 1,850 yards and 20 TDs.
“I’m proud of the way he’s handled his recognition and accolades. He’s going to be extremely valuable and a great asset to any team that’s smart enough to take him next year,” Ferentz said.
Iowa (9-4) won for the sixth time in seven games since losing three straight to fall to 3-3. South Carolina (7-6) lost three straight down the stretch while being outscored 118-30.
South Carolina 0 0 0 10 — 10
Iowa 14 7 10 0 — 31
First quarter Iowa — Stross 6 pass from Stanzi (Murray kick), 7:39. Iowa — Greene 1 run (Murray kick), 4:41. Second quarter: Iowa — Greene 1 run (Murray kick), 8:09. Third quarter: Iowa — FG Murray 18, 9:09. Iowa — Greene 11 run (Murray kick), :04. Fourth quarter: SC — J.Cook 10 pass from Smelley (Succop kick), 13:35. SC — FG Succop 48, 2:02. A — 55,117. SC Iowa
First downs 17 22
Rushes-yards 14-43 47-181
Passing 270 147
Comp-att-int 26-50-3 13-19-2
Return yards 5 74
Punts-avg. 2-42.5 2-44.0
Fumbles-lost 2-2 2-1
Penalties-yards 10-100 6-50
Time of possession 24:06 35:54
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — South Carolina, Garcia 5-25, Maddox 3-17, M.Davis 3-2. Baker 3-(minus 1). Iowa, Greene 29-121, Hampton 12-54, Stanzi 4-6. Oberland 1-5, Brodell 1-(minus 5).
PASSING — South Carolina, Smelley 16-31-0-179, Garcia 9-18-3-79. McKinley 1-1-0-12. Iowa, Stanzi 13-19-2-147.
RECEIVING — South Carolina, McKinley 6-86, J.Barnes 5-40, M.Davis 3-26, M.Brown 3-23, J.Cook 2-23, Wallace 2-10, Baker 1-42, Kingrey 1-9, Maddox 1-6, Saunders 1-6, DiMarco 1-(minus 1). Iowa, Myers 4-49, Moeaki 3-43, Brodell 3-27, Johnson-Koulianos 1-18, Stross 1-6, Morse 1-4.
