MADISON, Wis. — After trailing 21-6, Iowa wasn’t going to wilt.

The Hawkeyes fought back against Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium on Nov. 9 with a touchdown and a field goal in the fourth quarter before Nate Stanley found Tyrone Tracy for a 75-yard score with 3:12 remaining to make it a 2-point game.

What came next encapsulates Iowa’s season.

The Hawkeyes elected to go for the 2-point conversion to tie the game. Offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz dialed up a quarterback draw, and Nate Stanley took it up the middle and finished the play with a massive collision.

No good. Inches short. A 24-22 heartbreaker that will likely end Iowa’s Big Ten West title hopes.

“I felt like it was there,” Stanley said. “The offensive line did a good job. That guy was the one guy we couldn’t get. Unfortunately, he got me. I don’t know how short it was, but it was just a little bit short.”

The failed attempt was Iowa’s season in a play — so close to glory yet so far away.

The Hawkeyes have played three ranked Big Ten teams this season, losing all three by a combined 14 points.

This one seemed especially close.

Iowa battled back from a 15-point deficit late in the third quarter, woke up a dormant offense, and scored 16 points in the final quarter to give itself a chance.

But instead of sitting on top of the Big Ten West standings, it has fallen to 3-3 in conference play, behind Minnesota (6-0), Wisconsin (4-2), and Illinois (4-3).

“There are seven teams on our side, so one’s going to go [to the Big Ten Championship] and six aren’t,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “That’s the way football goes sometimes. Everybody’s competing for the same thing.”

The 2-point conversion attempt also embodies Iowa’s fight.

The Hawkeyes battled back through the adversity they faced early in the game when their offense couldn’t find ways to click.

Wisconsin held Iowa to 93 yards in the first half before the Hawkeyes more than doubled their output with 202 in the second.

That’s the same way Stanley fought toward the end of the quarterback draw that could have tied the game. He took advantage of the open space in front of him before meeting a mighty collision head-on.

“He’s one of the toughest dudes we got,” offensive guard Kyler Schott said. “He’s willing to throw his body on the line for all of us, and we’re willing to do it for him, too.”

But in the end, the Badgers met the challenge.

They took whatever they wanted on the ground, racking up 300 yards — 123 yards more than the next highest rushing total Iowa has allowed this season — including 250 from Heisman Trophy candidate Jonathan Taylor.

“You could tell offensively and defensively, we were just scratching for every inch — that’s just the definition of fighting, I think in my opinion,” defensive end A.J. Epenesa said. “Defense obviously, we didn’t play to our standards, but offense, I think they took a step forward. They never gave up. That showed throughout the game to be able to bring us back, and we just really needed the defense to step up and get a stop.”