Wisconsin at Iowa

Written by Steve Janus

This Saturday the No.12 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes will host the 11th ranked Wisconsin Badgers in Big Ten showdown. Last week the Hawkeyes came away with a nice 38-28 win at Michigan, while the Badgers stunned then No.1 Ohio State 31-18 at home. The Hawkeyes have own the Badgers recently, winning six of the last eight, including a 20-10 win at Wisconsin last year. If you are thinking about betting on the game this weekend, the current college football odds have the Hawkeyes favored by 6-points over the Badgers at home.

Wisconsin (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten): The Badgers got off to a great start against the Buckeyes and never looked back. David Gilreath took the opening kick back 97 yards for a touchdown, and the Badgers scored on their next two offensive possessions to open up a 21-0 lead. Ohio State closed the gap to 21-18 early in the fourth quarter, but James White scored from 12 yards out and Philip Welch added a field goal to put Wisconsin up for good.

The Badgers really ran the ball right at the Buckeyes, as they rushed for 184 yards on 43 attempts. John Clay finished with 104 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries and White added 75 yards on 17 carries, including that huge late touchdown run. Quaterback Scott Tolzien completed 13 of 16 attempts for 152 yards, but did have an interception that ended in a missed field goal by Ohio State. The Badgers defense played well early and late, as they had the two key stops early and then had three stops late, including an interception and a turnover on downs.

The question will be can the Badgers have that same kind of success running the ball against an Iowa defense that has been great against the run this season. It will also be interesting to see if the Badgers can bring that same kind of intensity on the road, after really playing their hearts out last week against Ohio State.

Iowa (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten): The Hawkeyes also got off to a great start in their game against the Wolverines, as they jumped out to 21-7 lead and were up 28-7 going into the fourth quarter. Michigan backup quarterback Tate Forcier came in and brought the Wolverines back, but it was just too little too late.

Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi completed 17 of 24 attempts for 248 yards with three touchdowns, giving him 13 touchdown passes to just two interceptions this year. All three touchdown tosses went to wide out Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, who now has seven touchdown catches on the season. Running back Adam Robinson had 143 yards and two touchdown on 31 attempts. On top of knocking out star quarterback Denard Robinson, the Hawkeye defense forced four Michigan turnovers and despite a bad finish really played well over the first three quarters of the game.

I believe the key for the Hawkeyes will be playing smart football and making sure they secure the football, as they can’t afford to give the Badgers and easy points in this game. I also think Iowa has a great shot at winning if they can get the run going early and wear down the Wisconsin defense.

Looking at the Odds: I think your money has to be on the Hawkeyes at -6. This is a very underrated Iowa team, that I believe still is the best team in the Big Ten. Iowa’s defense will slow down the Badgers rushing attack and offensively I think Iowa will be able to move the ball pretty easily against the Badgers defense. My final score prediction is Iowa 31, Wisconsin 21.

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