Iowa and Wisconsin renewed one of the oldest rivalries in the middle of the country, battling it out in Iowa City for the Heartland Trophy. While the series has been a low-scoring affair at times, this edition would include points in bunches.

However, most of those points came on the side of Iowa with the Hawkeyes scoring 28 points across the second and third quarters. While Wisconsin briefly had a chance to cut into that lead, Iowa’s defense provided all the stops the team would need down the stretch.

Kirk Ferentz’s team would finish off a 42-10 win, giving Iowa 3 straight in the rivalry series. Here are the key takeaways from Saturday night:

A winning streak for the Hawkeyes

The Heartland series is one of the most evenly matched in the history of college football. Wisconsin still leads the all-time series but the head-to-head record is down to 49-47-2 in favor of the Badgers.

Saturday’s win also gives Iowa 3 straight, and it has been a while since the Hawkeyes carved out that kind of success against Wisconsin. In fact, you have to go all the way back to 2002-05 before you find the last time Iowa won 3 straight in the series.

This current streak is just the 2nd instance of 2+ wins consecutively since 2005 for the Hawkeyes. Meanwhile, the Badgers have a pair of streaks of at least 3+ wins in the same time frame.

For now, Iowa has the leg-up in the series while trying to even the all-time record. Luke Fickell is also now 0-2 in the rivalry game since taking over the Badgers.

Kaleb Johnson, Superman

Kaleb Johnson has been powering Iowa all season long, so why should this game be any different? He was already approaching 100 yards by halftime, and he was climbing the all-time and single-season touchdown marks for the Hawkeyes with a second-quarter touchdown.

After halftime, Johnson would score his 2nd and 3rd touchdowns of the game, giving him yet another hat trick on the year. It is now Johnson’s 4th game with 3 total touchdowns on the season, and he has multiple touchdowns in 7 of his 9 games this year.

Johnson even managed to out-gain Wisconsin in the rushing attack singlehandedly. He finished with 135 rushing yards while Iowa’s defense held the Badgers to 94 yards on the ground.

Brendan Sullivan delivers balance for the offense

Without Cade McNamara available, this was Sullivan’s game from start to finish. It was about as flawless as you could expect for the Hawkeye offense from start to finish.

As a passer, Sullivan was 7-for-10 for 93 yards and a touchdown. That efficiency was top-notch without any turnovers accounted for.

A true dual-threat option, Sullivan shined with his legs as well while rushing for 58 yards and another touchdown. And that kind of performance should make any QB1 decision easy to make for Week 11.

McNamara is currently expected to be healthy enough to play in Week 11, but changing things after that kind of performance from Sullivan would seem like an ill-advised step back. We’ll have to wait and see how Kirk Ferentz and his staff handle that.