| Game Name: | Outback Bowl |
| Subheader: | 31st Outback Bowl |
| Date Game Played: | January 2 |
| Year Game Played: | 2017 |
| Football Season: | 2016 |
| Stadium: | Raymond James Stadium |
| City: | Tampa, Florida |
| State: | Florida |
| Visitor School: | Florida Gators |
| Visitor Name Short: | Florida |
| Visitor Nickname: | Gators |
| Visitor Record: | 8–4 |
| Visitor Conference: | SEC |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | 20 |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 18 |
| Visitor Rank Cfp: | 17 |
| Visitor Coach: | Jim McElwain |
| Visitor 1Q: | 3 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 13 |
| Home School: | Iowa Hawkeyes |
| Home Name Short: | Iowa |
| Home Nickname: | Hawkeyes |
| Home Record: | 8–4 |
| Home Conference: | Big Ten |
| Home Rank Ap: | 21 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 25 |
| Home Coach: | Kirk Ferentz |
| Home 1Q: | 3 |
| Home 2Q: | 0 |
| Home 3Q: | 0 |
| Home 4Q: | 0 |
| Odds: | Florida by 1[1] |
| Mvp: | Chauncey Gardner |
| Referee: | Brad Van Vark (Big 12) |
| Attendance: | 51,119 |
| Payout: | 3,500,000[2] |
| Us Network: | ABC |
| Us Announcers: | Mike Patrick (play-by-play) Ed Cunningham (analyst) Jerry Punch (sidelines) |
The 2017 Outback Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on Monday, January 2, 2017 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The 31st annual Outback Bowl featured the Iowa Hawkeyes from the Big Ten Conference and the Florida Gators from the Southeastern Conference, and was one of the 2016–17 NCAA football bowl games concluding the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The game was nationally televised by ABC, and its title sponsor was the Outback Steakhouse restaurant franchise.
On December 4, 2016, Florida and Iowa were selected to play one another.[3] This was the fourth overall meeting between the teams, and was the third time the Gators and Hawkeyes played each other in the Outback Bowl, with each team having won one of the previous meetings. This was also the fifth time each school played in the Outback Bowl.
See main article: 2016 Florida Gators football team and 2016 Southeastern Conference football season.
See main article: 2016 Iowa Hawkeyes football team and 2016 Big Ten Conference football season.
| Statistics | FLA | IOWA |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 11 | 14 |
| Plays-yards | 57-331 | 65-226 |
| Third down efficiency | 6/15 | 4/15 |
| Rushes-yards | 109 | 171 |
| Passing yards | 222 | 55 |
| Passing, Comp-Att-Int | 14-25-2 | 7-24-3 |
| Time of Possession | 28:45 | 31:15 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| FLA | Passing | Austin Appleby | 14/25, 2 int., 222 yds, 2 TD |
| Rushing | 14 r./94 yds, 0 TD | ||
| Receiving | 7 rec./55 yds, 0 TD | ||
| IOWA | Passing | 7/23, 3 int., 55 yds, 0 TD | |
| Rushing | 22 r./115 yds, 0 TD | ||
| Receiving | Akrum Wadley | 4 rec./21 yds, 0 TD |