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MIAMI (AP ) — Stymied by the Iowa Hawkeyes' swarming defense, Georgia Tech found itself out of options.

No. 10 Iowa solved Tech's explosive triple option and Ricky Stanzi threw two early touchdown passes for a 24-14 victory Tuesday night in the coldest Orange Bowl ever.

The temperature at kickoff was 49 degrees, and Tech's offense was slow to warm up. The ninth-ranked Yellow Jackets averaged 35 points during the regular season, but their only score in the first three quarters came on Jerrard Tarrant's 40-yard interception return.

The Hawkeyes (11-2) earned their first Bowl Championship Series bowl win, matched the school record for victories and could claim their highest final ranking since finishing No. 3 in 1960.

Playing for the first time since Nov. 7 after surgery on a badly sprained right ankle, Stanzi completed 15 of 23 passes, with one big mistake — Tarrant's pick with 24 seconds left in the first quarter, Stanzi's only incompletion in his first 10 attempts.

Other than that, the first half was all Iowa, even with the Hawkeyes turning the ball over twice. The scoreboard didn't show the extent of how much Iowa controlled the half, outgaining Georgia Tech 257-32 by intermission.

And in the third quarter, the Yellow Jackets didn't make much of a dent.

The Yellow Jackets nearly tripled their yardage total on the opening drive of the second half. What had been a dominant Iowa showing suddenly seemed tenuous, but Scott Blair's 41-yard field goal attempt was short and right. And although Georgia Tech gained 59 yards, its eighth possession ended just like its first seven — pointless.

At least it wasn't a punt.

By halftime, Georgia Tech had already matched a season high with six punts, a stunning development for a team that had a total of seven in its previous five games. The Yellow Jackets entered with the nation's second-ranked rushing offense, the spread option piling up more than 300 yards per game.

But in the first half of this Orange Bowl, Georgia Tech's rushing offense was colder than the air: 18 carries for 32 yards, punctuated by Josh Nesbitt getting sacked for a 14-yard loss on the final play of the half.

And the team went three-and-out only 14 times in its first 13 games, the fewest in the country, didn't get their initial first down against Iowa until 7:20 remained in the half. It was the Yellow Jackets' only first down of the half, too. Iowa led that department 11-1 at intermission, and 15-6 entering the final quarter.

After Tech's opening drive of the second half stalled, Iowa answered. Daniel Murray's 33-yard field goal with 2:17 left in the third made it 17-7.

It was the chilliest Orange Bowl ever, played before 66,131 and coming amid South Florida's worst cold snap in nearly a decade.

Maybe Marvin McNutt's hands were cold on the first possession.

McNutt caught a third-down pass from Stanzi on the game's opening drive, good enough for a first down, but Tarrant punched the ball free and Sedric Griffin recovered for the Yellow Jackets, giving them the ball near midfield less than 90 seconds into the game.

And that set up the first matchup of Georgia Tech's spread-option offense vs. Iowa's staunch run defense.

Advantage, Hawkeyes.

Georgia Tech hadn't punted in its last two games, a span of 22 possessions. No matter — Iowa forced the Yellow Jackets to punt four plays after the McNutt fumble to set the night's tone, and Stanzi quickly took advantage with an 80-yard scoring drive.

A 54-yard pass to tight end Tony Moeaki was the big blow, setting up a 4-yard toss to McNutt that made it 7-0 midway through the opening quarter.

Another quick Georgia Tech punt, another quick Iowa score. Stanzi connected with Colin Sandeman for a 22-yard touchdown with 4:04 remaining in the opening quarter, putting the Hawkeyes up 14-0.

No. 10 IOWA 24, No. 9 GEORGIA TECH 14

Iowa 14 0 3 7—24
Georgia Tech 7 0 0 7—14

Iowa—McNutt 4 pass from Stanzi (Murray kick), 8:10.
Iowa—Sandeman 21 pass from Stanzi (Murray kick), 4:04.
GT—Tarrant 40 interception return (Blair kick), :24.
Iowa—FG Murray 33, 2:17.
GT—Allen 1 run (Blair kick), 12:30.
Iowa—Wegher 32 run (Murray kick), 1:56.
A—66,131.

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs — Iowa 21, GT 9
Rushes-yards — Iowa 40-172, GT 41-143
Passing — Iowa 231, GT 12
Comp-Att-Int — Iowa 17-29-1, GT 2-9-1
Return Yards — Iowa 25, GT 49
Punts-Avg. — Iowa 4-36.0, GT 7-49.1
Fumbles-Lost — Iowa 2-1, GT 0-0
Penalties-Yards — Iowa 4-25, GT 9-68
Time of Possession — Iowa 32:23, GT 27:37

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING
Iowa — Wegher 16-113, Robinson 14-59, Stanzi 6-10, Morse 1-3, Team 2-(minus 5), Murray 1-(minus 8).
Georgia Tech — Dwyer 14-49, Nesbitt 20-46, Peeples 3-27, Allen 3-21, Wright 1-0.

PASSING
Iowa — Stanzi 17-29-1-231.
Georgia Tech — Nesbitt 2-9-1-12.

RECEIVING
Iowa — Moeaki 4-85, Johnson-Koulianos 4-63, Sandeman 4-53, McNutt 4-21, Stross 1-9.
Georgia Tech — Dwyer 2-12.