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3 takeaways from Iowa’s Heartland Trophy win over Wisconsin
By Alex Hickey
Published:
Iowa and Wisconsin’s battle for supremacy in the Big Ten West followed the expected script to a T without any edits.
It was defense, defense, defense — with a dash of special teams added for good measure.
The teams combined for 21 points via 4 field goals, 1 touchdown and 1 safety while managing to pick up a combined 27 first downs.
That was better news for the Hawkeyes than the Badgers. Iowa took control of the West division race with a hard-fought 15-6 win that was so ugly that only a mother or a Ferentz could love it.
Here are 3 takeaways from Iowa’s win to earn the Heartland Trophy in back-to-back years for the first time since 2008-’09.
Injuries played an outsized role
The defensive struggle was heightened by key injuries to both offenses.
Iowa’s passing offense, already hamstrung by season-ending injuries to starting quarterback Cade McNamara and tight end Luke Lachey, suffered another blow when tight end Erick All was carted off the field in the first half.
And it showed.
Iowa finished the game with an Army- or Navy-like 37 passing yards (and still won by 2 possessions.)
Wisconsin, meanwhile, lost quarterback Tanner Mordecai for the rest of the game with an apparent hand injury near the end of the second quarter. Mordecai’s hand hit a Hawkeye helmet on a pass follow-through.
Replacement Braedyn Locke finished 15 of 30 for 122 yards and a touchdown.
Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen also left the game with an injury. He would return but was clearly operating at less than 100%. Allen finished with 87 yards on 18 carries.
Most Valuable Punter
Iowa punter Tory Taylor was 1 of the most influential players on the field.
Taylor averaged 50.6 yards per punt despite having to punt 10 times. The Aussie had 6 punts of at least 50 yards and 5 of them were fielded inside the 20-yard line. And despite getting that many cracks at it, Wisconsin finished with 27 total return yards.
Taylor truly may have put on 1 of the best single-game punting displays in Big Ten history.
Iowa won how?
It’d be impossible to believe Iowa won just by reading a box score. The Badgers doubled the Hawkeyes in first downs, 18-9. Wisconsin had 332 total yards to Iowa’s 237.
But Iowa had Leshon Williams.
The junior had 174 yards on 25 carries, accounting for 73.4% of his team’s total yardage. Much of that came on an 82-yard run for the game’s only touchdown.
Alex Hickey is an award-winning writer who has watched Big Ten sports since it was a numerically accurate description of league membership. Alex has covered college football and basketball since 2008, with stops on the McNeese State, LSU and West Virginia beats before being hired as Saturday Tradition's Big Ten columnist in 2021. He is an Illinois native and 2004 Indiana University graduate.