Wisconsin Badgers-Iowa Hawkeyes: A Badger's Take

Note to Wisconsin's coaching staff: Iowa's run defense is not as good as the pass defense. And, by the way, your running backs can move the ball against any defense, especially in the second half of games, so it would behoove you guys to give Clay the ball!

The Iowa Hawkeyes come to Camp Randall Stadium Saturday sporting an impressive 6-0 record and sitting atop the Big Ten along with Ohio State.

Last year's game between these teams featured Iowa running back Shonn Greene running all over the Wisconsin defense and Iowa romping at Kinnick Stadium.

Not gonna happen this year.

Even though the Badgers lost to OSU last week, they came away with some positives to carry to this battle with Iowa.

The Badgers' offense moved the ball against, arguably, one of the top five defenses in the nation, yet struggled to score.

If the Badgers can establish a running game early against a rush defense that ranks sixth in the conference, the Badgers will roll.

The advantage here is that the Badgers are now battle tested after last week's game, and Iowa's biggest test is a questionable Penn State squad.

Give Iowa all the credit in the world, however, if they win this game, they may win out.

The Hawkeyes enter the game leading the conference in pass defense and turnover margin.

The Badgers turned the ball over twice last week, and both times it was a result of quarterback pressure, which led to poor decisions.

If the Hawkeyes stop the run and get heat on Scott Tolzien, the Badgers will be in for another long day.

Be prepared for a bruising brawl with the Badgers looking to avenge last year's loss and stay alive in the Big Ten race while Iowa looks to remain perfect.

Wisconsin will win if...

1. Quarterback Scott Tolzien rebounds from two sub par outings.

Tolzien's performance hinges on the blocking of the front line. As the offensive line goes, so goes the Badger's passing game.

If Iowa forces the Badgers into relying on the pass to win the game, it will be a long day for the Badgers.

Iowa's defense has been very opportunistic, with 19 takeaways so far this season.

The Badgers have struggled to protect the ball at times, specifically last week when there was pressure put on Tolzien consisently. If the Hawkeyes can get pressure on Tolzien without blitzing linebackers and safeties all day long, the Hawkeyes will win this one by two or more scores.

2. The Badgers defense plays like it did last week. The Badgers kept Ohio State's offense off of the field, and held them to under 200 yards of total offense.

Ohio State quarterback, Terrelle Pryor only completed 5 passes the whole game...

Of course, he didn't need to throw much in the second half.

3. John Clay rushes for 100 yards or more. In every game this season that Clay has been held below 100 yards, the Badgers have been too close at the end. When he is effective rushing, it opens up the passing game in a big way, and sets up the playaction pass deep.

The Hawkeyes will win if...

1. The defense forces two or more turnovers. Last week the Badgers turned the ball over twice, and it led to 14 points for the opposition. As already mentioned, the Hawkeyes force a ton of turnovers.

2. The offense can establish some sort of running game. The Badger run defense has been better than expected this season, ranking fifth in the conference in yards per game average.

With the return of Iowa tigh end Tony Moeaki against Michigan, the Hawkeyes have another threat on offense. Quarterback Ricky Stanzi is much like Terrelle Pryor in terms of passing ability, but has a stronger arm. If the run game gets going, the Badgers will struggle to stop the Hawkeyes passing game.

3. They stop Clay. The Hawkeyes run defense is ranked sixth in the Big Ten in yards allowed per game, but that number is deceptive. Against Arizona and running back Nic Grigsby, they were very effective. The Hawkeyes have struggled at times against teams that run a spread offense, and the Badgers run a more traditional style, with some flashes of a pro style offense mixed in.

If the Hawkeyes minimize Clay's yards per carry, they will have an easy time stopping the Badger offense.

As already stated, this game will be a back and forth, physical struggle between two talented teams.

It will be a low scoring contest, and whichever team can limit mistakes, penalties, turnovers, missed tackles, etc...will emerge with a win.

Iowa - 21 Wisconsin - 20

Check out Kevin Trahan's Iowa-Wisconsin Creature vs Creature breakdown.