Wisconsin Football Week Five: Iowa Hawkeyes Up Next in Big Ten Opener
By Jim Oxley
The Wisconsin Badgers and the Iowa Hawkeyes will meet Saturday morning to open the Big Ten slate at Camp Randall Stadium. The Wisconsin football team is looking for its fourth win at this young stage in the season.
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Wisconsin is sitting at 3-1 on the season and has played well after falling to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the season opener. The Badgers responded by blowing away three non-conference opponents at home by a combined score of 114-3. The defense has not given up a touchdown since the fourth quarter against Alabama.
This week the Badgers will face their first true test since the Alabama game when the Iowa Hawkeyes come to town. Here’s what the Wisconsin football program has to look for when the two teams square off for the Heartland Trophy.
Wisconsin Badgers
Iowa Record: 4-0
Season So Far: The Hawkeyes have knocked down everyone who has come up in front of them. Iowa opened with a 31-14 win over Illinois State, followed with a 31-17 win over Iowa State, then had a battle with Pittsburgh, winning 27-24. Pittsburgh tied the game with 52 seconds let tin the fourth quarter, but Iowa responded with a field goal as time expired to take the victory.
Last week the Hawkeyes closed out the non-conference slate with a 62-16 rout of North Texas to move to 4-0 heading into this week’s Big Ten opener.
Top Players: Junior quarterback C.J. Beathard leads the Iowa Hawkeyes on offense. He’s off to a strong start in 2015, completing nearly 70 percent of his passes for almost 1,000 yards and six touchdowns against just one interception. He’s been sacked just four times this season in four games.
Junior receiver Matt VandeBerg has been his favorite target, catching 25 passes for 242 yards and a pair of TDs. Senior wide receiver Tevaun Smith is the big-play receiver. He’s had 12 receptions for 235 yards and a pair of scores, averaging 19.6 yards per grab. Senior tight end Henry Krieger Cole has added 10 catches for 105 yards in the high-powered passing offense.
In the running game, senior running back Jordan Canzeri is averaging five yards a carry on his way to 316 yards and eight touchdowns on 62 carries. Junior LeShun Daniels adds a strong second option, totaling 217 yards on 48 carries this season. Beathard has another 151 yards and three scores on 27 carries.
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Defensively, Iowa has a pair of high profile NFL prospects in senior defensive end Drew Ott and junior cornerback Desmond King. Ott was injured earlier this season but has played well in his return. In addition to being solid in the defensive backfield, King is a dominant return man.
Outlook: This will be a tough test for the Badgers, who have struggled to move the ball consistently. They saw a resurgence in the power running game last week with Derek Watt and Austin Ramesh leading the way for Taiwan Deal, and will need to see more of that against an Iowa defense that is giving up just 84.0 rushing yards per game, the 12th best figure in the country.
Wisconsin’s own run defense has one-upped that, giving up 82.8 rushing yards a contest, the 10th best number in the country. Wisconsin is also holding opponents to less than 10 points a game, 9.5 to be exact — tied for 4th best in the FBS.
Iowa’s offense, meanwhile, is scoring 37.8 points per game and 439 yards per game.
The Badgers are in for a dogfight, as they always are when Iowa comes up on the schedule.
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