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Fresh off another B1G Playoff stir, Iowa is a dangerous sight for Wisconsin
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On Saturday, it’s safe to say that Iowa got the attention of the college football world.
The Hawkeyes’ beatdown of Ohio State earned plenty of tweets with the eyes emoji and a screen shot of the scoreboard. I’m a big fan of those.
Perhaps more importantly, Iowa got the attention of the College Football Playoff selection committee. The Ohio State blowout put Kirk Ferentz’s squad at No. 20 in the Playoff poll on Tuesday. The 3-loss Hawkeyes won’t sniff a Playoff spot, but their rise into the top 25 had implications for a certain team in Madison.
On Saturday, Wisconsin will play host to a suddenly red-hot Iowa team. They’ll look to do what Ohio State couldn’t do. Well, losing by less than 31 points won’t get the Badgers any closer to a Playoff spot.
They’ll will be tasked with slowing down Iowa’s offense. Throwing four interceptions like J.T. Barrett did against the Hawkeyes probably wouldn’t be ideal for Alex Hornibrook, either.
Technically, this is Wisconsin’s first chance to face a top-25 team in 2017. But Lord knows Wisconsin isn’t about to get any credit for beating a B1G West team at home. An Iowa win won’t change the selection committee’s view of its strength of schedule. At all.
Wisconsin has everything to lose, and Iowa has all the reason to play loose against another elite foe.
That’s a dangerous combination.
One could argue that Iowa has made a major impact on the College Football Playoff each of the last three years. The aforementioned Ohio State win spoke for itself. The Michigan thriller last year prevented the Wolverines from reaching a potential B1G East title.
And if you subscribe to the belief that the fistfight against Michigan State in the 2015 B1G Championship made an impact on the banged up Spartans weak showing against Alabama, there’s that.
Contrary to what a certain national pundit claimed, Kirk Ferentz’s teams have never been afraid of playing 60 minutes with the big boys. Contrary to what many national pundits are currently claiming, Wisconsin is indeed a big boy.
That means the Badgers can’t lose the line of scrimmage battle against Iowa. Ohio State lost it, as did Penn State.
The Hawkeyes struggled to run the ball all year until the Buckeyes showed up. Iowa’s 243 rushing yards were the product of some dominant offensive line play and some devastating Akrum Wadley jump cuts.
Akrum Wadley’s jump cut. RIP, ankles. pic.twitter.com/DYTOziAqq0
— Dustin Schutte (@Schutte_B1GFB) November 4, 2017
Actually, it wasn’t just Wadley and solid offensive line play. Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz dunked all over Greg Schiano’s defense. The play-calling was something we haven’t seen from Iowa, perhaps ever.
Is the younger Ferentz just hitting his stride in his first year as the Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator? Perhaps.
There’s also reason to believe that Wisconsin’s first-year coordinator is coming into his own, too. Jim Leonhard’s defense allowed more than 17 points once all season (vs. Northwestern). Since that B1G opener, the Badgers allowed an average of just less than 12 points per game.
Of course, nobody has been paying attention to that. Instead, the focus has been on the Badgers’ inconsistent quarterback play and the weak schedule so far. Never mind the fact that Wisconsin has the B1G’s best running game, as per usual.
RELATED: Once again, Wisconsin was the talk of the CFP rankings show
Still, if the Badgers face the Iowa team that showed up last Saturday, it’ll be by far their toughest challenge of the season on both sides of the ball.
The Nov. 4 version of Nathan Stanley would be better than any quarterback the Badgers faced, as would the Nov. 4 version of the Iowa running game. OK, the Nov. 4 version of the Iowa football team would compete for a Playoff spot.
The question, of course, is if Iowa can bring that show on the road. It’s one thing to have the Kinnick Stadium advantage with the fans on top of the sidelines. It’s another thing to go into Camp Randall and play like a top-four team.
We were reminded last week that Iowa was indeed capable of ending Playoff hopes. The Hawkeyes got everyone’s attention in a hurry.
And if they didn’t get Wisconsin’s, the B1G’s Playoff bid will end on Saturday.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.