Iowa football defeated Wisconsin, 15-6, on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium. With just one play over 20 yards on offense, the Hawkeye defense and special teams once again carried the Hawkeyes to a victory behind three turnovers, two field goals, and a safety. Now at 6-1, Iowa is in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten West. 

“It just shows that we’re trying to win the game by any means, we don’t what it looks like,” Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins said in his postgame press conference. “As long as we have the win at the end of the day, that’s all that matters to us.”

For Hawkeye quarterback Deacon Hill, who played for Wisconsin for two years before transferring in the offseason, the win brought tears of joy to his eyes.

“There was a lot of dark days in the portal here [at Wiscsonsin], so obviously it feels good to be part of a team again,” Hill said in his postgame press conference. “That’s the biggest thing, I love my team. Right now, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

The Santa Barbara native added that he didn’t think he would even be playing FBS football before arriving in Iowa City. According to Hill, his embrace with Hawkeye offensive special assistant Jon Budmayr, the longtime quarterbacks coach for the Badgers, was “one of my favorite memories of all time.”

“I think he was the first one down [on the field from the coaches’ box], I didn’t expect him to get down that fast,” Hill said.

After a volatile performance from Hill in the passing game last week, the Hawkeyes weren’t taking any chances on their opening drive, running the ball seven consecutive plays before the Wisconsin transfer elected to throw. His first attempt was a risky one, nearing being intercepted near the line of scrimmage on third down and forcing the Hawkeyes to punt. 

On the defensive side, the Hawkeyes appeared a bit weary of the Badgers’ uptempo offense, conceding multiple passes of 10-plus yards from quarterback Tanner Mordecai.

Two of these tosses targeted Hawkeye star cornerback Cooper DeJean, but the 2023 preseason All-American made for those miscues with a critical stop on fourth-and-one when the Badgers were in field goal range. Blitzing off the edge, DeJean went untouched and wrapped up Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen before the line of scrimmage. 

According to Higgins, who led Iowa with 13 tackles, the Hawkeyes knew the Badgers would feature a new-look offense under former Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell and former North Carolina offensive coordinator Phil Longo.

For Hawkeye defensive back Sebastian Castro, the key to besting the Badger offense wasn’t anything schematic or technical, but rather the simple intangibles.

“I felt like this game was going to come down to physicality, and I’m glad we came out there and did just that,” he said. “I don’t know if it was just me, but I could feel it in the air. I just felt like we were more dominant today.”

Adversity struck yet again for the Hawkeyes on their following drive, as starting tight end Erick All went down due to an apparent right knee injury after making a catch. The Michigan transfer was helped off the field by trainers and visited the medical tent before leaving in crutches and being carted off the field. 

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said he didn’t have any “bad news” about All’s status yet, but added he would know more next week. Hill said All was in good spirits on the sidelines, even cracking some jokes with his teammates.

With senior Steven Stillianos, sophomore Johnny Pascuzzi, and freshman Zach Ortwerth filling in at tight end, the Iowa offense further relied on the run game for much of the first half, keeping the ball on the ground for 28 plays.

The highlight of the ground game came in the second quarter when junior running back Leshon Williams dashed for an 82-yard TD run. On third-and-two, the junior from Chicago hit the hole up the right sideline, assisted by a wall of Hawkeye blockers. The play was Iowa’s longest of the season and the longest for a Hawkeye in Big Ten completion since 1972. 

For Williams, he credited his patience for making such a play possible but also explained how the score put the pressure on the Badgers.

“It was all the momentum, taking the heart out of [them],” Williams said. “Especially with [Hawkeye punter Tory Taylor] punting the ball on the other side of the field. I know you have to have a good offense to score from eight yards, but I don’t know how it would make the other team feel when they have to do it every drive.”

Yet taking away the big rush, Iowa averaged just less than two yards per carry in the first half and completed just five passes for a total of 36 yards. The first down on Williams’ run was the only first down the Hawkeyes had in the second quarter. 

The second half of the contest was a battle on the ground for both sides, as Wisconsin had to turn to backup QB Braedyn Locke when Mordecai went down with a right-hand injury deep in the second quarter when his hand struck the helmet of Hawkeye linebacker Jay Higgins on a tackle. A transfer from SMU, Mordecai finished the day 12-of-20 for 104 yards. 

After compiling just 48 total yards in the second quarter, the Badgers mounted two 60-yard drives, each resulting in field goals from Badger kicker Nathanial Vakos to bring Wisconsin within one. On those two drives, the Badgers averaged 5.2 yards per play. 

The Hawkeyes caught a break late in the third quarter when Hill’s pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and appeared to fall into the hands of a Badger defensive lineman. The call on the field was an incompletion and confirmed after an official review. Instead of taking over in the red zone, the Badgers started with the ball 60 yards in the other direction following a punt from Taylor, who piled up more than 500 yards of punting on Saturday. 

The Melbourne, Australia, native said he was discouraged by his performance earlier in the season, but thanked Hawkeye special teams coordinator LeVar Woods for providing unconditional encouragement and helping him get out of his “slump.”

“The one thing that I really love about Coach Woods is that he just lets us be who we are,” the senior said. “There was never one day where he was, like, ‘Why are effing doing that?’ It was like, ‘You’re the best punter I know, you’re the best punter in the world.'”

For Higgins, Taylor’s powerful right foot “opened up the playbook” for the Hawkeye “D” and gave the unit more confidence knowing the Badgers had a long way to go if they wanted to sniff the end zone.

Following a Wisconsin three-and-out, Iowa’s next offensive drive was the Williams Show, as the running back took a handoff on all six plays of the drive for 28 yards. Hawkeye kicker Drew Stevens kicked his first field goal of the day, nailing a 48-yarder in front of a raucous Badger student section to extend the lead. 

Ferentz said Stevens wasn’t at his best last week against Purdue, as the sophomore missed two field goal attempts; one of them blocked, and the other sailed well right of the goal post.

“He’s right on the money, that says a lot about how those guys handle tough situations,” the head coach said.

Starting with the ball inside their own 10-yard line following a penalty on the kickoff, the Badgers gained just one yard before Iowa defensive tackle Yahya Black broke through the line and sacked Locke in the end zone for a loss of eight yards and a safety to put Iowa ahead by six. 

Needing a stop within the last five minutes, the Hawkeye defense did that and more. Following a conversion on fourth down from Allen, Iowa defensive lineman Aaron Graves wreaked havoc. The Iowa native sacked Locke, forcing a fumble recovered by Higgins, giving Iowa the ball in Badger territory. 

“We like those low-score games defensively,” Higgins said. “It just puts pressure on the defense and that’s what we’re built for. We want to have the game in our hands. I mean, if you asked anybody on defense, we feel the most confident when it’s up to us to win the game.”

Yet the Hawkeyes mustered only 17 yards on five plays after the turnover and nearly gave up the ball when Hill dropped a snap under center on third down. Stevens kicked another field goal, this time from 40 yards, to give Iowa a much-needed cushion. 

When Castro, who finished the contest with seven total tackles, caught the game-sealing interception, the Hawkeyes had found themselves transformed from 10-point underdogs to first place in the Big Ten West. 

In a game with plenty of struggles and setbacks, the Hawkeyes’ resilience was noticeable, but for Ferentz, was nothing too surprising considering the growth the Hawkeyes have made so far this season. For the head coach, his squad has come a long way since its crushing 31-0 defeat at the hands of Penn State just three weeks ago.

“That’s a choice everybody makes,” Ferentz said of resiliency. “I know you don’t have a way to measure that … but the guys are growing and that’s what it’s all about. That’s what the sport’s all about, what’s life all about: It’s just looking at your situation and asking, ‘What can you do to get better?'”