IOWA CITY — Iowa football (5-4) looks to extend its win streak to three with a victory over Wisconsin (5-4) on Saturday.
The Hawkeyes enter this weekend’s Big Ten matchup comes off two big games: a 20-point win over Northwestern and a 24-3 beatdown against Purdue.
It should be an interesting matchup between two teams with identical records. Wisconsin has the fifth-best offense in the conference. Iowa’s offense comes in at No. 13, ahead of only Northwestern, with an average of 17.2 points scored per game. Both teams have strong defenses.
Follow along here for live updates throughout the game.
So, Kaleb Johnson rushed one yard to start and then looked like he broke the plane for a touchdown. The officials called it short, and Iowa opted to get off a quick play. Petras scored on the quarterback sneak and the Hawkeyes are up by 11 points at the start of the fourth quarter.
A lot of chances in this one for both teams, but neither can add points to the board. This has been all about the punts, which should come as no surprise with the Hawkeyes reputation. After Cooper DeJean returned the punt 41-yards and the Hawkeyes added 13 more yards from a Kaleb Johnson run and a Sam LaPorta reception, Iowa is on the 5-yard line to start the final quarter.
Riley Moss picked off Graham Mertz on the opening drive of the second half. That was the first interception of the season for Moss, who 11 total over his career. Iowa takes over from the 44-yard line.
The Badgers added a touchdown late and Wisconsin will get the ball to start the second half.
Graham Mertz found a wide-open Keontez Lewis on a 51-yard pass play. Lewis caught it at the 20-yard line and took it to the house to bring Wisconsin within four. Iowa still leads 14-10 late in the second quarter.
Doesn’t seem like whatever happened to Mertz on the last drive was something too serious because he was back out for Wisconsin. But on his first pass — second play — of the drive threw an interception to Cooper DeJean, who ran it back 32-yards for another Iowa touchdown. Hawkeyes are up 14-2 late in the second quarter.
It’s been over five minutes since Iowa’s first touchdown of the game and the score remains the same. Iowa’s defense continues to hold off Wisconsin, and Badgers quarterback Graham Mertz seemed a bit shaken up on Wisconsin’s last play. That’s not a good sign for the Badgers, but it could be all Iowa needs to pull off a win.
Iowa’s defense had another big stop, and it looked like the ball would be back in the Hawkeyes hands after another Wisconsin punt. Instead, Deontae Craig blocked the punt and Jay Higgins recovered. After the turnover, Spencer Petras sent a 13-yard pass to Sam LaPorta and Kaleb Johnson followed that with a four-yard touchdown run.
Wisconsin’s field goal is still the only score in this game, and the Badgers defense has done really whatever it wants against the Hawkeyes offense. Wisconsin starts the second quarter on 2nd and 9 from the 41-yard line.
This is definitely a defensive game and the Badgers struck first…but not with a touchdown. Nate Van Zelst hit a 32-yard field goal to give Wisconsin the early 3-0 lead. The Badgers traveled 37 yards on 10 plays and took over five minutes off the clock.
Not much to report here because this matchup between Iowa and Wisconsin started exactly as expected — with strong performances by both defenses. After each team had a chance on offense, Iowa has the ball back and will start its second drive from the 12-yard line.
Iowa’s receiving core will be thinner against Wisconsin. Arland Bruce IV left last week’s Purdue game early with an upper body injury but did return later on. It seems like it might not have been as good as Hawkeyes fans hoped, as he did not participate in initial warmups and was not spotted in pads during regular warmups.
That leaves Iowa with Diante Vines, Nico Ragaini and Brody Brecht in the receiver rotation.
Want to see some of the action from outside the stadium prior to the start of the game? Check out this Iowa-Wisconsin gallery from our photographers.
Iowa’s defense has been among the most consistent units for the Hawkeyes all season, and Iowa will need yet another big performance from them against Wisconsin.
The Hawkeyes top target on Saturday will be quarterback Graham Mertz.
Kennington Smith breaks down why: “His raw passing output (1,707 yards) isn’t eye-popping but he is ranked second in the Big Ten in passing touchdowns (17) and is third in quarterback rating (159.6). And under interim coach Jim Leonhard, a four-game stretch, he has nine touchdowns to one interception.”
This matchup is make or break for both the Hawkeyes and the Badgers, and Chad Leistikow breaks down exactly why this one is so important.
“The loser, though, cements an underachieving season. The Badgers and Hawkeyes, who have combined to win six of the eight West titles and were projected to finish 1-2 this season, enter their latest collision at 5-4 overall. The loser can do no better than 7-5. The winner, meanwhile, could still have a nine- or 10-win season and enjoy a sun-splashed January bowl game (even the Rose is on the table) if everything comes together.”
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
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