Calling Saturday a disappointing day for Badger fans may be an understatement. In fact, the word disaster may sum it up better.
Wisconsin was humiliated on the road, losing 42-10 against the Iowa Hawkeyes. To put the loss into perspective, not only was it the Badgers’ biggest defeat to the Hawkeyes in over 50 years, but it was the exact score from when Wisconsin lost to the then-No. 4 Alabama earlier this season.
Head coach Luke Fickell expressed what every Wisconsin fan watching at home surely felt.
“This was something, like, kind of your worst nightmare to be overtaken, manhandled and dominated, especially in the second half,” Fickell said in a post-game press conference.
Expectations for this matchup were high, considering both teams were 5-3 for the season. And despite Wisconsin coming off of a previous loss, it was a hard-fought battle between the Badgers and No. 3 Penn State for the majority of the game.
But while Wisconsin got the first points of the game with a successful 38-yard field goal attempt from kicker Nathanial Vakos, it wasn’t long before the Hawkeyes took the lead.
Iowa’s backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan responded quickly and curated a seven play drive, where the Hawkeyes scored off of a 1-yard touchdown run. Later in the second quarter, Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson ran in a 16-yard touchdown. Before Badgers fans could blink, the Hawkeyes were up 14-3 heading into halftime.
The Badgers finally found some success in the fourth quarter, but only after Iowa scored an additional two touchdowns in the third quarter to make the score 28-3.
Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke found wide receiver CJ Williams for a 14-yard touchdown throw early in the fourth quarter.
But it was too little, too late. Two of Locke’s throws were into coverage — one early in the first quarter and one in the third quarter, but both resulted in an Iowa interception and ultimately points on the board for the Hawkeyes.
The Athletic’s Jesse Temple reported that Locke has thrown a minimum of one interception for all six games he’s started this season, with eight interceptions total.
Mistakes such as those will need to be cleaned up this off week for the Badgers if Wisconsin hopes to put up any threat against Oregon.
The No. 1 Oregon Ducks have run a dominant campaign this season — they’re one of only five Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision programs left undefeated, two of which came against top-15 ranked opponents. This won’t be Wisconsin’s first test against a ranked team, after playing then-No. 4 Alabama, then-No. 13 USC and then-No. 3 Penn State. Wisconsin is 0-3.
