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Wisconsin Football: Badgers and Hawkeyes set to battle for Heartland Trophy
Last season, the Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall by a score of 10-6, regaining the Heartland Trophy and securing their first win versus the Badgers since 2009. A sluggish, defensive struggle that ended with a Joel Stave incomplete pass locked up the Hawkeyes’ victory, maintaining their (then) perfect record and regaining the coveted rivalry trophy.
“Going a whole year with an empty trophy case, (without) seeing it in the locker room every day, it kind of makes you angry a little bit,” Wisconsin quarterback Alex Hornibrook said. “Especially after that game when it wasn’t sitting there in the locker room.”
This year, the Badgers are back on the road to Iowa City, their third trip to Kinnick Stadium in four years and ready to return to glory following a demoralizing overtime loss to Ohio State last Saturday.
Wisconsin enters the game ranked tenth in the country, the highest two-loss team in the nation and is very much still alive for both a Big Ten championship and a College Football Playoff berth. While the Badgers currently sit at 1-2 in the Big Ten West, the opportunity to make up some ground awaits as their next three opponents all sit ahead of them in the standings.
Iowa comes in to Saturday’s matchup 5-2 overall, 3-1 in conference. Once ranked as high as tenth in the nation (Coaches), the Hawkeyes lost a non-conference shocker at home to FCS school North Dakota State, followed by another home loss two weeks later at the likes of Northwestern. Since then, the Hawkeyes have rattled off two straight wins, showcasing their defense in a 14-7 victory at Minnesota followed by turning on the burners and dropping 49 against Purdue.
Despite the offensive explosion, we should expect Saturday’s meeting between the Hawkeyes and Badgers to be a hard-nosed, defensive struggle. Iowa currently sits second to last in the conference in total offensive (364.1 yards per game), while Wisconsin is not too far ahead with just over 375 yards per contest. Both teams do, however, rank in the top five in the Big Ten in scoring defense, setting up what looks to be a low-scoring affair.
Wisconsin currently leads the all-time series 44-43-2. What used to be an annual rivalry, the recent conference expansion split up the two teams into separate divisions, meaning the unbalanced schedules allow these two teams to meet in spurts. This will be the sixth straight meeting in which one of the two teams is ranked, and 11 out of the last 12. A rivalry that once saw the Hawkeyes win 17 straight decisive games, a recent surge in both programs has made the meetings much more meaningful.
Wisconsin currently sits at 3.5 point favorites and will look to make it six straight wins for the road team in this series. The game will be televised at 11 am central time on ESPN.
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