As the Badgers catch their breath after Melvin Gordon’s record-breaking afternoon against Nebraska, they now turn their attention to Iowa and what will be a heated Big Ten West race to the conference championship.
No. 14 Wisconsin’s trip to Iowa City Saturday is the next step in a demanding stretch of games that round out its schedule. UW (5-1 Big Ten, 8-2 overall) and the Hawkeyes (4-2, 7-3) are separated by just one game in the divisional standings, and both teams have a very real chance to earn a bid to the Big Ten championship game Dec. 6 in Indianapolis.
Even though Gordon’s unprecedented 408-yard rushing performance against the Cornhuskers, a new FBS single-game record, has launched his Heisman Trophy stock upward, head coach Gary Andersen believes the star running back will be solely focused on matters on the field.
“I have no doubts that Melvin is going to do nothing more than crank it up a notch and he will be able to push away all those distractions and he will be very prepared when the opportunity presents itself, and he will have to be, if we’re going to do what we want to do as a team,” Andersen said. “He’s going to have [to be] a great player for us this next week for us to be able to win.”
Andersen’s assertion is especially true against Iowa’s defense, which will make it tough to establish a passing game. The Hawkeyes have allowed 176.8 passing yards per game, second fewest in the Big Ten behind Wisconsin. Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig attributed Iowa’s success to its various coverage schemes and “big, salty group” of defensive linemen that pressure the quarterback.
“They’re going to make you work for every completion,” Ludwig said. “They do a great job covering people down, there’s no free-access releases in the route structure and it’s a very sophisticated zone defense base with a good mix of man coverage, a little bit of pressure. It’s an excellent scheme, the players know it very well and play it at a very high level.”
Junior defensive end Drew Ott (7.5 sacks, one interception) leads an Iowa defensive line that has had success getting to the quarterback and has held opposing teams to 147.8 rushing yards per game.
However, the most analogous running threat to Gordon that the Hawkeyes have faced this year was Indiana’s Tevin Coleman, who torched Iowa for 219 yards and three touchdowns on just fifteen carries Oct. 11.
This bodes well for Gordon, who leads the nation in rushing yards (1,909), yards per carry (8.56) and touchdowns (25). He’ll be able to work in tandem with sophomore Corey Clement, who aggravated a shoulder injury lunging for a second-quarter touchdown against Nebraska, but expects to be ready to play without limitations this Saturday.
Shrouded by the mayhem of Gordon’s historic day against Nebraska was the play of Wisconsin’s defense, which held the Cornhuskers to just 180 yards of total offense and forced five turnovers. Despite the Badgers’ impressive showing against Nebraska and their standing as the top defense in the nation (244 yards allowed per game), defensive coordinator Dave Aranda is concerned with the challenge presented by Iowa’s running game, led by the 6-foot, 240-pound running back Mark Weisman.
“This is the first true test—I know we talked about LSU and I felt that at the beginning, but this is a bigger test in terms of the ground and pound that we’re going to see,” Aranda said.
Aranda expects to shift away from the “peso” package, a scheme that utilizes just two down linemen, and will employ more of a 3-4 base defense to slow down Weisman.
Although this game plan departs from what UW has done in previous weeks against spread offenses, redshirt linebacker Vince Biegel said the adjustment will be seamless.
“We can go out there and play with spread teams but we can also strap up, lock and load and play those heavy-run Iowa teams,” Biegel said. “We’re ready for the challenge that Iowa’s facing with us, we’re going to have a little bit bigger bodies in for this game so it’s going to be a big boy fight now and we’ve got to prepare ourselves for this Saturday.”
Weisman’s size and physicality draws more defenders to the line of scrimmage, which in turn opens up passing lanes for junior quarterback Jake Rudock. Although Rudock’s 207 passing yards per game and 12 touchdowns don’t jump off the stat sheet, Aranda warned that he can easily take advantage of teams that overcommit to the run.
“We’ve played people that have spread the field, not people that put everybody in a five-yard box with the exception of one guy on either side,” Aranda said. “It’s completely different. I feel our guys are up to the test, but it’s a different game.”
If the defense muscles up against Iowa’s bruising running game and Gordon keeps chugging, the Badgers will leave Kinnick Stadium with the Heartland Trophy and will be one game closer to Indianapolis.
