The Wisconsin football team is known for doing what it did to Iowa. So why is anybody surprised?
Heading into the game between the Wisconsin football and Iowa football programs Saturday night nobody seemed to have any idea what would happen. Wisconsin just came off a loss to a BYU team that was shutout through a quarter and a half by McNeese State, an FCS team. And Iowa had played well to a 3-0 record but against unimpressive opponents.
This game was played in Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium. It’s a place where top-ranked teams have gone to die in the past. Something about playing there at night just gets to opposing teams. Maybe it’s the pink locker rooms, maybe it’s just a coincidence, or maybe there actually is some weird black (and gold) magic that goes on there once the sun sets.
But I had a feeling it wouldn’t affect the Badgers.
All Iowa has done is struggle with Northern Illinois and Iowa State, and beat up on an FCS team. I don’t know about you, but I’m impressed.....
— Tanner Nestle (@NestleIsTheName) September 23, 2018
Badgers should have this in the bag.
I understood where people were coming from against Wisconsin in this game. They’ve looked rough, unprepared, sluggish, and anything else negative you could come up with. But Iowa was being treated like some dominant program that beats up on teams on a regular basis. Iowa is as middle-of-the-road as they come. I’ve seldom been impressed with the Hawkeyes and I wasn’t going into this game.
I said what I did on Twitter before the game because I wanted to get my thoughts out there beforehand. When the Badgers won, like I was hoping for, and expecting as a fan, I had a feeling the narrative would be, “Iowa can’t hold on because it just isn’t that good.” And that’s basically what happened.
Iowa had played a good game until the beginning of Wisconsin’s go-ahead touchdown drive. But that’s when things for the inferior team usually unravel. Iowa wasn’t the better team, it wasn’t better coached, it didn’t play as good of a game as it could have, and it left points on the board. When a team like Wisconsin is a better-coached team and does have more talent, that slight window is all it needs to take advantage and pull out a win.
I said going into the weekend that Wisconsin simply doesn’t lose to teams it’s better than. This game against Iowa is a perfect example of why. As good as everybody wanted to think Iowa was, it just wasn’t that great. And no matter how much you wanted to downgrade Wisconsin for its rough loss to BYU, it was a fluke. Maybe the sluggish performance wasn’t. We’ll see about that down the road. But the end result was. Wisconsin just wins, baby.
Credit to Iowa for making the game a tough one. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous throughout the final drives. But at the end of the day, the result is what I expected. Wisconsin won because it’s a better football team. Iowa made it close because of the road environment and the style of play it utilizes, but it just wasn’t going to be enough.
If Iowa really was going to win, it wouldn’t have left points on the board early in the game near the goal line. That’s what separates good teams from great ones. And Iowa, simply put, is just only a good team. Wisconsin football is great.