TAMPA, Fla. - Even plain vanilla can taste pretty sweet.

And that's just what the Iowa football team served up Thursday at Raymond James Stadium: Plain, old, vanilla football.

No special flavors. No fancy toppings. Nothing elaborate. Nothing exotic.

Just basic, no-nonsense, no-frills football, executed to such near-perfection that even an old trickster like South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier had to stand back and admire the simplicity of it all.

"I like how Iowa played," Spurrier said after the Hawkeyes had knocked around his team in the Outback Bowl.

"They played like you're supposed to - run the ball, a little play action, a little of this, that and the other."

Spurrier, of course, is known for his creativity and gadgetry. His team lined up a few times in a bizarre formation in which the offensive tackles were split way out with the wide receivers. There was just a quarterback, center and two guards alone in the middle of the field.

It didn't work.

The closest Iowa got to any sort of gimmick was one-wide receiver reverse. It didn't work, either. Andy Brodell lost five yards.

But the basic stuff - the zone blocking, the play-action passes, the cover three defense - worked beautifully.

"We just went out and did what we wanted to do," quarterback Ricky Stanzi said.

"You probably could scout us in about 5 minutes, on both sides of the ball," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz admitted.

Iowa guard Julian Vandervelde said he wouldn't want to play for a team that relied on bells and whistles to collect yards and touchdowns.

"Hell no. This is Iowa football," the former Davenport Central star said. "This program is all about getting really good at fundamentals. There's not a practice or a lifting session that goes by that we're not just working on basic fundamental stuff.

"We don't feel we need trick plays or exotic packages to get the job done."

With more than a month to plot and prepare for a bowl game, you would think a team might come up with some fairly creative schemes. It's apparent the Hawkeyes spent their month getting really, really good at the few things they do.

The plain vanilla approach wasn't just confined to offense, either. If anything, Iowa's defensive approach might be even more narrow in scope. Youthful South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia said he wasn't fooled all day. His four first-half turnovers were all because the Hawkeyes executed and he didn't.

"I think Iowa only played two coverages the whole game," Spurrier said. "It's all they needed. We couldn't hit against those."

That comment brought a smile to the face of Iowa cornerback Bradley Fletcher, who had a hand in two of the turnovers.

"We just did what we do," Fletcher said. "Nothing fancy."

Contact Don Doxsie at (563) 383-2280 or ddoxsie@qctimes.com