IOWA CITY, Iowa— In a wildly entertaining game, No. 14 Wisconsin knocked off Iowa, 26-24, to set up a winner-take-all game next week against Minnesota for the Big Ten West title.
Shaking off the late-game demons that have plagued them for the past several seasons, the Badgers ended a nine-game losing streak in contests decided by one score or less, a stretch dating back to the Utah State game in 2012. Wisconsin clinched the victory thanks to a brilliant clock-killing drive led by quarterback Joel Stave.
After the Hawkeyes scored a touchdown to make it 26-24, the Badgers got the ball back with 5:01 to go. With Kinnick Stadium rocking, Wisconsin faced a third-and-8 at its own 38-yard line. Stave came out in shotgun looking to throw, but when nothing was open downfield, he took off running and lowered his shoulder to pick up the first down while simultaneously getting blasted by a defensive back.
“The hole was pretty big, you know?” joked redshirt senior linebacker Marcus Trotter. “No, when he did that, we were all really happy. He really took one for the team because after that play, I think he was limping. He got a pretty big hit. Very happy to play with a guy who’s going to risk his health just to get the first down.”
Stave was pleased with his awareness to recognize the coverage in the secondary and make an unexpected play with his feet.
“It was really, really well covered downfield and they did a very good job basically covering everything up. Just tried to work through my progressions on the field,” Stave said. “At some point that clock in your head goes off, saying ‘I can’t stand here anymore.’”
That wasn’t Stave’s only brilliant drive of the day. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Badgers were clinging to a 19-17 lead when they faced a third-and-13 at their own 32-yard line. With pressure in his face, Stave lofted a beautiful throw over Melvin Gordon’s shoulder, hitting the Heisman candidate in stride for a 35-yard pickup. Two plays later, Gordon scored from 23 yards out to make it 26-17.
“We saw them do [a blitz] on film a number of times this year and we knew if we saw it again we’d be ready for it,” Stave said. “We had that option built in where if I recognize that pressure I can just let Melvin know, bluff that guy and slip him and get your head around. And he did it as perfectly as he could have.”
Facing a stiff defensive front, Gordon was somewhat bottled up Saturday despite rushing for 200 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries, his third straight 200-yard game and fifth of the season. The performance gave him 2,109 yards on the season, tying Ron Dayne’s single-season school record set in 1996.
However, Gordon got his yards in bunches, ripping off a career-long 88-yard run in the third quarter and the 23-yard scoring scamper in the fourth. Without those two runs, he averaged a paltry 3.1 yards per carry on his other 29 attempts.
With Gordon not having his best performance Saturday, Stave stepped up and gave the Badgers what they needed to overcome an electric Iowa crowd. He finished 11-14 for 139 yards, including an impressive 4-5 for 67 yards on third downs.
“Individual efforts, there was a bunch of them there, but … the plays that Joel Stave was able to make when they blitz after him, Melvin catches the ball and gets the first down, Joel scrambles out and gets another first down,” said head coach Gary Andersen. “Those are huge moments.”
Stave’s reliability also helped take pressure off Wisconsin’s elite defense, which struggled at times in the second half to contain Hawkeye quarterback Jake Rudock. Rudock was 20-30 for 311 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for 25 yards and a touchdown.
“Our pass rushing was not good enough and they blocked us well. We brought some blitzes, some four-man blitzes, some five-man blitzes,” Andersen said. “The biggest issue is the coverage, yes, because it’s the easiest thing to see. But when you let a quarterback get comfortable, you’re going to have some serious issues.”
That gives the Badgers plenty to work on this week as they prepare for the regular season finale against Minnesota. Thanks to the Gophers’ win over Nebraska Saturday, the winner of Minnesota-Wisconsin will play in the Big Ten title game Dec. 6 against Ohio State, who clinched the East Division with a win over Indiana.
“If you’re from Wisconsin, you hate Minnesota. If you’re from Minnesota, you hate Wisconsin,” Trotter said. “What better way to finish off senior season against Minnesota for representing in the Big Ten championship.”
