The Wisconsin Badgers were humiliated at home by the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday, losing 37-0 to give up the Heartland Trophy for the fourth straight year.
It was an ugly showing from the start, as Wisconsin committed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty before the game even started. By halftime, Wisconsin was trailing 23-0, producing zero offense while giving up five scores in the first two quarters.
It was the fourth straight loss for the Badgers, who have now dropped eight straight games in conference play and look like the worst team in the Big Ten.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s 37-0 loss to Iowa on Saturday.
After the loss to the Michigan Wolverines and ahead of the week, head coach Luke Fickell preached the message of competitive spirit when referencing the uphill climb the Badgers would face.
“It’s gonna be a battle,” Fickell said last Saturday. “I said it in the locker room, there is only one place and way to get to where we wanna go, and that is through it. That is to go through these tough times, and really tough situations. That is recognizing that it is going to take a hell of a lot of effort and strength and toughness, and most importantly, a hell of a lot of competitive spirit. Every play will be evaluated tonight, offense, defense, and special teams, about what is the competitive spirit and competitive nature of all of our team.”
Well, that competitive spirit was non-existent on Saturday. Wisconsin had a completely unnecessary unsportsmanlike conduct penalty before the game even began. Linebacker Tyreese Fearbry was jawing at Iowa players coming out of the locker room and did not stop after getting a warning from the referees.
Later in the first half, Wisconsin had two more unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. While the impact of those penalties may not have been significant, it points to the undisciplined behavior that Wisconsin has repeatedly shown under Luke Fickell.
To set that tone at the beginning of the game was a major issue for the Badgers. In a game of physicality and hard-nosed football, Wisconsin came in well behind the Hawkeyes, and their undisciplined behavior continued.
To begin the season, I cautioned about the team’s run defense, which was ranked No. 2 in the country ahead of Week 6 against Michigan.
While the Badgers were allowing less than 55 rushing yards per game, they had faced four of the worst rushing attacks in the country against Miami (OH), Middle Tennessee, Alabama, and Maryland.
In their first true test against a top rushing team, Wisconsin struggled, as I predicted last weekend. They gave up 175 yards and two touchdowns on the ground on over five yards per carry, with Justice Haynes controlling the game for Michigan.
On Saturday, the results were even worse against the Hawkeyes, who ran for 210 yards and four touchdowns on 5.8 yards per carry. From the opening drive, Iowa constantly created holes up front for its backs, who seemed to generate many yards before contact.
Iowa’s offensive line completely mauled the Badgers defensive front, and Wisconsin never presented an answer. It was a complete beating on the ground in a game where trenches would dictate the outcome.
The reality is: Wisconsin isn’t a great run defense. They miss too many tackles and aren’t physical enough at the defensive line, no matter how many 300-pound bodies they put up front. When tasked against a top rushing offense, they have yet to find an answer.
The pass defense didn’t have as many struggles on Saturday, but that was more about the poor play from quarterback Mark Gronowski than Wisconsin’s defense. Gronowski missed two early wide-open third-down throws, including one that would’ve been a touchdown, and was off-target on several throws.
He only got into a rhythm when Iowa designed a ton of screen passes and short throws for their quarterback, and ultimately didn’t have much of an impact on the result. And yet, Iowa ended up scoring 37 points in an ugly game for the Badgers.
After some flashes against Michigan, Hunter Simmons took a major step backward in Week 2 as the starter against Iowa.
The Badgers quarterback really struggled in the first half, committing three turnovers. His first interception came on a batted pass, as left tackle Riley Mahlman was beaten to the inside 1-on-1. Rather than shuffling to his left before firing, Simmons looked to hit his running back on an out-route. The ball was deflected, tipped in the air, and intercepted.
Simmons’s second interception came on a play-action fake to a screen. After faking a run left, Simmons didn’t see the backside edge defender right in the passing lane and threw the ball right to him for a near pick-six.
Later, the senior was flustered on a dropback in the pocket, pumpfaking before making a wild throw to Darrion Dupree that was backwards and went over the running back’s head. Iowa scrambled to the ball and got a fumble recovery because it was a backward pass.
All three drives resulted in Iowa scoring and killed any momentum for the Badgers in the first half.
Simmons started off the game with a miss, as he had a wide-open Vinny Anthony on 3rd & 8 on Wisconsin’s first drive on a shot play that would’ve been a touchdown. Instead, the quarterback turned that pass down to hit Chris Brooks on the sideline, which was ruled just short (bad spot) of a first down, leading to a Badgers punt on 4th & 1.
From there, it was downhill for the Badgers quarterback as mentioned above. He completed just 4 of 13 passes for 60 yards and the three turnovers in the first half. In the second half, things weren’t much better as Simmons completed four of eight passes for 22 yards.
Wisconsin has a big quarterback issue. Both Simmons and Danny O’Neil have struggled in Billy Edwards’s absence. And neither looks like the answer for the future.
They need to figure something out fast at the position because things aren’t looking much better with Ohio State and Oregon coming up in the next two weeks.
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