Iowa Keys to the Game
Protect the passer
During the Kirk Ferentz era, the Iowa Hawkeyes struggled with year-to-year consistency. They have finished with double-digit wins only five times in 17 years with Ferentz at the helm. However, when the Hawkeyes have contended in the Big Ten, their offensive line has always been top-notch. This includes 2015, when Iowa went 11-2, and had a 1st Team All-Big Ten offensive guard and 2nd Team All-Big Ten center.
This year has been a bit of a disappointment for the Black and Gold, starting out 5-2, with losses to FCS North Dakota State and a mediocre Northwestern team. Their overall struggles as a team can certainly be attributed to their poor pass protection.
The Hawkeyes’ opponents have sacked C.J. Beathard 2.5 times per game so far this season, certainly not a winning recipe. Iowa has also allowed sacks on 7.5 percent of normal downs, which ranks 104th in the country, and on 11 percent of passing downs, which ranks 105th in the country. If Iowa has any hopes to stay in Big Ten contention by beating UW, their pass protection has to improve by leaps and bounds against a very good Wisconsin pass rush.
King's potential impact
In the 2015 season, Iowa cornerback Desmond King had a breakout junior year, as he led the Big Ten with eight interceptions, was a consensus first team All-American and won the Jim Thorpe Award given to the nation’s best defensive back.
The future early-round NFL draft pick has made a name for himself by coming up with huge interceptions in close games for his team, including picking off former UW quarterback Joel Stave twice in Iowa’s 10-6 victory in Madison just last season.
To go along with his tremendous coverage skills, King is also a factor on special teams. He has had good success serving as the team’s punt and kick returner, averaging 25.7 yards per kick return and 9.7 yards per punt return for his career and consistently makes impact plays this season.
If the team on the road loses the special teams and turnover battles, they usually don’t travel back home with a win. If the Hawkeyes want to upset the Badgers at home, King will have to lead the team in both areas.
Beathard’s inconsistent play
Arguably the biggest reason why Iowa got off to a magical 11-0 start in 2015, was the play of quarterback C.J. Beathard. Beathard came out of nowhere and produced one of the best seasons from a quarterback in Iowa history in 2015. Beathard threw for 17 passing touchdowns, ran for six more, and threw only five interceptions. His dual-threat ability and talent for avoiding turnovers awarded him 2nd-Team All Big-Ten.
A lot was expected of Beathard and Iowa before this season, with Beathard starting out on many analysts’ Heisman watch lists, but this prediction has not panned out thus far.
Beathard has been plagued by inconsistency this season. In his second game of the season, Beathard put together a nearly perfect game, throwing for 235 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in Iowa’s 42-3 smackdown of Iowa State. However, in their loss to North Dakota State, the senior threw for just 152 yards while completing his passes at a modest 50 percent clip.
Beathard is coming off his second best game of the season, but will have to play even better for a full 60 minutes in order to beat the Badgers at home.
Wisconsin Keys to the Game
Consistency on the ground
After one of the Badgers’ worst years running the football in recent history in the 2015 season, UW had high expectations for their rushing attack heading into 2016. Unfortunately, this consistent, dominant run game has not panned out consistently for the Badgers.
One major reason why the Wisconsin running attack hasn’t been as potent as predicted is because of the underwhelming performance of senior running back Corey Clement. Through his first five games of the season, Clement has averaged less than four yards per carry, a mark well below Clement’s potential.
However, the good news for the UW ground game is that they bounced back in major fashion against Ohio State, one of the nation’s best run defenses. Even the struggling Clement ran for 166 yards on 6.6 yards per carry against the Buckeyes.
UW will have to carry this momentum on the ground into their game against Iowa in order to come out of Iowa City with a win.
Dominant run run defense
With three-year Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Aranda departing for LSU before the 2016 season, few thought this Badgers defense would continue to be as stout as they have been in recent years. New defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, however, has found a way to keep this Wisconsin defence as successful as ever, especially against the run.
Wisconsin’s fearsome foursome of Jack Cichy, T.J. Watt, T.J. Edwards and Leo Musso have been superb at stuffing opposing rushing attacks this season. They rank one through four, respectively, in terms of Badger tackles, and have almost 50 percent of the team’s total tackles combined.
The Badgers have also contained some of the most potent rushing offenses in the country, including holding Michigan to just three yards per carry and Ohio State to only 4.1 yards per carry.
The Hawkeyes are fresh off steamrolling Purdue on the ground to the tune of 365 yards and four touchdowns. Iowa’s best chance against Wisconsin is to capitalize off this momentum, so the Badgers will have to be ready, and continue to stop the run.
Vince Biegel's return
On September 30, outside senior linebacker Vince Biegel was ruled out for “several weeks” after having surgery on his foot. He missed the last two games, but it seems he is ahead of schedule in terms of a return, as he did some pregame drills before the Badgers’ matchup against Ohio State. According to FoxSports.com, Biegel’s return is “imminent.”
While the Wisconsin pass rush did register two sacks against OSU last Saturday night, the Badgers struggled to get pressure on J.T. Barrett on many possessions. Barrett often had plenty of time to throw, and consequently could move through his reads and decide if he wanted to burn them with his arm or his legs. If Biegel does return against Iowa, it could provide a huge boost to a defense that could use a little more help on the pass rush. Biegel is UW’s defensive leader, and has proven to also be their best pass rusher.
If Biegel can return against Iowa and play at his usual elite level, the Hawkeyes will be in for a long day.
