By Pat Harty

Despite how it might appear, the current Iowa football team didn’t set out to be just like the 2008 Hawkeye team that finished 9-4.

The players on the current team expected to be better than that. They had hoped to go one step further than last season by winning the Big Ten championship game this season.

And they weren’t alone in thinking that way.

Iowa was the popular choice to defend its Big Ten West Division title with 13 starters returning from a 12-win team, including 2015 Jim Thorpe Award winner Desmond King and second-team all-conference quarterback C.J. Beathard.

But it didn’t happen.

Iowa’s road to the 2016 Big Ten West title was filled with numerous potholes and missed opportunities.

One year after winning all the close games, the Hawkeyes now were losing close games, beginning with the stunning 23-21 setback against FCS member North Dakota State on Sept. 17 at Kinnick Stadium.

Then came a 38-31 loss to Northwestern two weeks later at home followed by a 17-9 loss to Wisconsin on Oct. 22 and also at home.

Iowa was a disappointing 5-3 heading into a road game at Penn State on Nov. 5 in State College, but the worst was yet to come. Penn State humiliated the Hawkeyes on national television, winning 41-14 in a game that never was competitive.

Iowa’s season appeared to be unraveling, but little did we know that one of the greatest turnarounds in the Kirk Ferentz era was about to happen.

And it’s still happening nearly two months later as 8-4 Iowa prepares to face 8-4 Florida in the Outback Bowl on Monday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

A victory over the Gators would give Iowa a 9-4 record and complete a turnaround that is similar in many ways to Iowa's turnaround in 2008.

That team also was 5-4 and seemed destined to be average despite having a star at running back in Shonn Greene.

But that team also never lost again as it defeated Penn State, Purdue and Minnesota in the final three regular-season games before pounding South Carolina 31-10 in the 2009 Outback Bowl to finish 9-4 overall.

“The one thing I always loved about that team is the way they improved,” Ferentz said. “It's all about your attitude, your work ethic, little detail things.”

Ferentz made that comment after the Wisconsin loss in October.

It now fits for his current team, which also has exhibited a strong work ethic and handled the little things down the stretch.

Iowa doesn’t have a superstar at running back like Greene, who won the 2008 Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best collegiate running back. But the current team does have one, if not the greatest running back duo in program history in senior LeShun Daniels and junior Akrum Wadley.

They have combined for 1,979 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns, which are the most rushing yards by two Iowa players in the same season.

Greene set the UI single-season rushing record with 1,850 yards in 2008, but he was mostly a one-man show.

In both cases, Iowa relied heavily on its running game to turn the season around, along with a stingy defense and reliable special teams.

The 2008 team had a force at middle linebacker in junior Pat Angerer, while the current team also has its own force at middle linebacker in junior Josey Jewell.

The 2008 team had a first-team all-Big Ten defensive tackle in senior Mitch King, while the current team has a first-team all-Big Ten defensive tackle in senior Jaleel Johnson.

The 2008 team had a standout cornerback in junior Amari Spievey, while the current team has arguably the greatest defensive back in the history of the Iowa program in King.

The current team might have an edge at quarterback where fifth-year senior C.J. Beathard has a 21-6 record as a starter. Ricky Stanzi was only a sophomore in 2008 when he replaced Jake Christensen as the starter during the season.

The motivation to finally win a bowl game is another thing the current team shares with the 2008 squad. None of the current Iowa players have won a bowl game, which is similar to the circumstances in 2008.

Only the fifth-year seniors on the 2008 squad had tasted a bowl win. But it happened while they were being redshirted during the 2004 season, which ended with Iowa defeating Louisiana State 30-25 on the final play of the 2005 Capital One Bowl.

The players on the current team were so determined to win a bowl game that they made it one of the top three goals for the season.

“We wrote down our goals for this year and winning a bowl game was one of those goals,” King said. “We want to keep that going and accomplish that.”

For it to happen, Iowa will have to defeat a Florida team that relies heavily on its defense to win games under second-year head coach Jim McElwain. The Gators held seven opponents to 10 or fewer points this season and finished 6-2 in the Southeastern Conference.

“One thing I would say and this is probably true at least since 1990, they have recruited very well year-in and year-out,” Ferentz said of Florida. They have a lot of good-looking players. They are athletic, they have got good size, the athleticism and speed and they are well-coached. Jim and his staff have done a great job in two years' time.”

This is the third time that Iowa and Florida will meet in the Outback Bowl, with the teams splitting the first two games. Iowa defeated Florida 37-17 in the 2004 Outback Bowl, while the Gators prevailed 31-24 two years later.

The Outback Bowl isn’t where either team envisioned their season ending.

But it’s an opportunity for both teams to win nine games and for Iowa to complete a miraculous turnaround that we sort of witnessed eight years ago.

Prediction: Iowa 20, Florida 14