Ep 89: Capital One Bowl Hero, Warren Holloway

Warren Holloway shares how he went from being a lightly recruited receiver to working as a scout teamer and on playing special teams for three years before becoming a legend. Holloway didn’t have many opportunities on offense before his senior year and caught his one and only touchdown on the last play of his college career. The Tate-to-Holloway touchdown in the Capital One Bowl on January 1, 2005 not only took down Nick Saban in his last game at LSU, but it became one of those unbelievable moments that burned itself into bowl history.

Warren Holloway tells Tim that coming out of high school several schools talked to him about playing defense in college. In addition to the impression the coaches and university made, it was the offer to stay at WR that brought Holloway to Iowa City. After contributing on special teams, Holloway was primed to take over the WR position in his junior year when not one, but two hamstring injuries dropped him back down the depth chart. Entering his senior year, Holloway only had 4 career catches and 0 touchdowns as a Hawk. As a senior, Holloway solidified himself as a contributor with 25 catches for just over 200 yards during the season. Playing alongside Ed Hinkel, Clinton Solomon, and Scott Chandler, Holloway was a true role player for the Hawkeye offense.

The 2004 season ended with a matchup against Saban’s mighty LSU Tiger team that was full of future NFL players including number 1 draft pick JaMarcus Russell, Joseph Addai, Dwayne Bowe, and Marcus Spears. Both programs were 9-2 and ranked in the top 15. The Hawks were co-Big 10 champions and the LSU Tigers were the defending national champions.  The Hawkeyes were 7-point underdogs going into the January 1st bowl game. The Capital One Bowl was a back and forth battle that came down to a final drive for the Hawkeyes, trailing 25-24 and the rest is history.

Tim and Warren take you into the huddle and onto the field for that 2-minute drill. Holloway takes listeners behind the scenes revealing the preparation for the game, his perspective on the situation, and even his thought process running the seam route that became ‘the catch’. Enjoy this week’s Tim-to-Holloway connection as the Hawkeyes get ready for another January 1st bowl game vs another SEC opponent; the Outback Bowl vs. Mississippi State.