Turning to the sea of 69,000 Iowa fans decorated in black, starting defensive back Deshaun Lee could run through a brick wall.
Celebrating with teammates and waving both arms to hype up the already live Iowa crowd, the Iowa defense was locked in. Wisconsin, a team which started out extremely hot in the first quarter against well-ranked Penn State and Alabama, was looking to stun an Iowa team searching to gain some confidence in Big Ten play. After scoring a field goal in the first quarter and getting multiple stops on the defensive end, all momentum was in the Badgers’ favor.
That was until Lee took matters into his own hands, literally.
“I just try to be me, man,” said Lee. “[I’m] bringing that energy up just so they can feed off of it. Just be me, man, and just do my job.”
Lee was the lone bright spot for the Iowa defense early on, recording two clutch defensive plays to give the Hawkeyes a much-needed confidence boost against the Badgers. Lee’s first spectacular play occurred around the seven-minute mark of the first quarter.
In a tight one-on one-matchup against Badger receiver Vinny Anthony II, Lee ripped the ball right out of the hands of Anthony II in the Iowa end zone, stopping Wisconsin right in the tracks for its quest to score.
With less than two minutes left of play in the first quarter, Iowa found itself in entering a hole down 3-0 to Wisconsin. And the Badgers were knocking on the door of the Iowa end zone again after a five-yard rush resulted in a fresh set of downs — intensifying the pressure for Iowa to either get a stop on defense or score the ball on offense.
Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke aired a deep pass on first down; unbeknownst to Locke, Lee was anticipating the pass and picked it off with a high-reaching grab yet with soft hands — returning it 16 yards for the Hawkeye offense to score and coast on forward.
That marked Lee’s first interception of the 2024 campaign — a campaign with highs and lows for this defense. Now, the Hawkeye cornerback feels the momentum not just today but for the rest of the season. In fact, Lee’s interception in the first quarter successfully turned the tides in favor of Iowa, with teammate and quarterback Brendan Sullivan finding the end zone on the next possession.
Iowa went on a 14-0 scoring run following Lee’s interception and headed into halftime with a comfortable 14-3 lead against the Badgers, after which it would not look back. It became apparent the Badger quarterback learned his lesson from his first-quarter error and only targeted Lee’s man a select few times in the second half.
Lee contributes his defensive play to maintaining a simple approach.
“[It’s] knowing I got 10 guys on the field playing their butts off for me,” he said. “[I’m] just trying to do my job. That’s all.”
Lee finished the game with three solo tackles, one interception, and one breakup. While the stats may not reflect Lee’s complete impact, the energy of the emerging “Ball Hawk” was felt throughout the entirety of the game. And he played his role as every other Hawkeye did in a crucial rivalry win.
“The offense, defense — really a lot of good things out there, a lot of good highlights, just a lot of good things,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said after the game. “Opportunistic. Got turnovers two times, turned those into touchdowns — always good to see. The guys played hard. They played tough. They played for the full 60. [There’s] not much else you can ask.”