Wisconsin football humiliated by Iowa Hawkeyes in 42-10 blowout loss
The Wisconsin Badgers now sit at 5-4 on the season and 3-3 in the Big Ten after getting boat raced by the Iowa Hawkeyes.
When Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell addressed the media ahead of the team's road test against Iowa, he didn't mince words, recognizing it would be a “tough, hard-fought, physical football game” that he anticipated would come down to the fourth quarter.
Looking back, that might have been wishful thinking. By the time the final quarter began, Iowa had already built a commanding 25-point lead, cruising to a 42-10 dismantling that laid bare just how far Wisconsin has to go under Fickell to compete at the top of the Big Ten.
The Hawkeyes 32-point victory was their largest over Wisconsin since 1968, making it three straight wins in the Heartland Trophy rivalry—their first such streak since 2002-05. Further, it was only the fourth time the Badgers have given up 40+ points to Iowa—the first since 1975.
"There's not a whole lot that words can say that can explain how I feel...We're going to have to pick ourselves up, going to have to move forward, and make sure that we are better,” Fickell said. "This was kind of your worst nightmare. To be overtaken, manhandled, and dominated, especially in the second half."
Here are three thoughts from the Badgers’ humbling performance.
The Badgers' offensive struggles were exposed
Let's just call a spade a spade. The Wisconsin football team's offense looked out of sync from the start and was downright ineffective—this performance was about as rough as it gets.
The Badgers needed to establish their rushing attack early—a must in a game where they couldn’t afford to rely solely on redshirt sophomore quarterback Braedyn Locke to win it with his arm. But instead, Wisconsin found itself frequently stuck in third-and-long situations, attempting more passes than runs. The first half saw the Badgers grind out only 48 rushing yards, their lowest total in the first half this season—and 124 in the game.
Overall, Wisconsin converted just 2 of 11 third downs against Iowa, with an average distance of 8.8 yards to go. Not great.
As is to be expected at this point, Locke continued to struggle with turnovers, throwing two more interceptions. The first came on a first-and-10 from midfield when he failed to see Hawkeyes defender Deshaun Lee sitting in a zone, who broke on a pass intended for Quincy Burroughs and made a play, which would later set up an Iowa touchdown.
The second interception from Locke was an ill-advised throw into coverage, picked off by linebacker Nick Jackson in the third quarter. That one led to another Hawkeye touchdown, pushing the score to 28-3.
Locke earned a Pro Football Focus grade of 38.8 for the game, his lowest of the season and the bottom mark on Wisconsin's offense—even below tight end Tucker Ashcraft, who had three of the team’s four false start penalties.
In Locke's six starts since replacing Tyler Van Dyke, the Texas native has managed to throw at least one interception in each game and is responsible for nine total turnovers (eight INTs, one lost fumble).
Offensive coordinator Phil Longo’s approach has rightfully come under scrutiny from the fanbase due to the overall lack of production in his two seasons calling plays, especially against quality opponents. Saturday’s performance at Iowa will only fuel questions about his fit for this program.
Mike Tressel's defense laid an egg against the run
Since Kirk Ferentz took over at Iowa in 1999, the team that outrushes the other in the Iowa-Wisconsin series holds a commanding 22-2 record—a trend that has held every year since 2010.
The Badgers knew exactly what they were up against with Iowa’s run-heavy game plan, powered by standout tailback Kaleb Johnson and the added threat of quarterback Brendan Sullivan’s mobility.
Yet, Mike Tressel's defense looked completely unprepared to handle the ground game. The Hawkeyes tore up the Badgers defensive front, with Johnson (135 yards, 3 TDs), Kamari Moulton (74), Sullivan (58), and Juziun Patterson (56) combining for 329 total rushing yards.
According to Game on Paper, Iowa finished the game with an EPA per play of 0.31, landing in the 92nd percentile nationally this week, and an EPA per rush of 0.30, putting them in the 90th percentile. Their success rate was just as impressive at 55%, placing them in the 96th percentile. Downright terrible.
"We were not able to put ourselves in position to stop the run," Fickell said.
"It doesn't go much further than looking in the mirror right there and finding ways to do a hell of a lot better job than that."
Any positive momentum has been completely derailed
Whatever positive momentum that coach Fickell and the Wisconsin Badgers (5-4, 3-3 Big Ten) had built during its three-game winning streak over Purdue, Rutgers, and Northwestern has quickly evaporated.
The Badgers have three games left on the schedule this season, and it's become clear that this team's margin for error is razor-thin. If we're being honest, this game was over by halftime.
With all due respect, Iowa is a good football team, but they're hardly the cream of the crop in the Big Ten. So, where exactly does that leave the Badgers?
Even if you believe coach Fickell deserves some grace to clean up the remnants of the Paul Chryst era — which in some ways is a fair stance — going 23 games without a signature win is a hard stat to ignore. Fickell was brought here to take the program to new heights, and instead, they have found themselves stuck in neutral with no real progress being made.
With a daunting home matchup against the No. 1 Oregon Ducks looming after the bye week, Wisconsin’s path to a winning season looks anything but certain.
Wisconsin will wrap up the regular season against Nebraska and Minnesota, and once again, it’s looking like they may need a win in one of those final two games just to secure bowl eligibility and keep the football program’s 22-year streak alive.
When asked if this job has proven to be more challenging than he anticipated, Fickell said, "We all know what we signed up for. It's the same thing that every kid in that locker room truly understands. You signed up for the best, and the expectation is you need to play the best, and right now, that's not the case.
"There's gonna be a lot of guys, myself included first and foremost, that are going to have a self-check, look in the mirror, and really kind of evaluate what they're willing to do moving forward."
The schedule was always going to be a challenge, but at this stage, that’s not an excuse for what we’re seeing from this coaching staff. At some point, the results need to speak for themselves. Until Wisconsin proves otherwise, we know exactly what we’re getting week in and week out—a middle-of-the-pack team, at best, that can beat the bottom feeders of the Big Ten conference but is exposed by any real competition.
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