Wisconsin’s trip to Iowa feels like the kind of game that tells you exactly what this Badgers team is made of.
The Heartland Trophy has been living in Iowa City since 2022, and the Hawkeyes have owned the rivalry stretch even longer than that, winning four straight in the series. For Wisconsin, that makes this more than just another Big Ten matchup. If the Badgers want to truly look like they’re back, beating Iowa is still the standard.
That’s why the biggest question hanging over Madison this week isn’t just whether Wisconsin can win. It’s whether the Badgers can handle the kind of game Iowa wants to drag them into. The physical edge, the punishing style, the trench battle - those are the traits Wisconsin will have to match before the scoreboard even matters.
Last week’s upset of No. 16 USC offered one encouraging sign.
Wisconsin’s defense was relentless, holding the Trojans to -17 rushing yards and piling up five sacks with two interceptions against quarterback Jayden Maiava. It was the kind of performance that made the Badgers look like a team with real bite.
Still, Luke Fickell made it clear that Iowa is a different assignment entirely.
“I don’t wanna put too much on our ability to stop the run so far, because it’s going to be a completely different challenge for us to stop the run," he said this week.
That’s the heart of the issue. Wisconsin has shown flashes of being a revived team, but Iowa remains the measuring stick because of the way these games have gone and because of how the Hawkeyes play. The Badgers have to prove they can stand toe-to-toe physically, something they haven’t managed in recent meetings.
On offense, the Badgers are also coming in with some questions attached. Two weeks ago, UCLA’s defense bottled them up, holding Wisconsin to 214 total yards and seven points.
Against USC, they found more success and scored 24 points, but the production came in bursts. Three touchdown drives - two of them 75-yard marches and one that went 59 yards - accounted for most of the damage, while the other four drives produced just 25 total yards.
Even in a win, Wisconsin got a break against a defense that wasn’t especially imposing and still didn’t exactly light it up. Now the challenge gets steeper, because Iowa brings one of the toughest defenses in the country.
The numbers show how close the teams are in total defense. Iowa gives up 281.3 yards per game, while Wisconsin allows 280.1.
But the Hawkeyes separate themselves against the run, where they rank No. 5 nationally at 82.9 yards allowed per game. That’s a major problem for a Badgers offense that leans heavily on the ground game, especially with quarterback Colton Joseph having thrown for just 124 yards over the last two games combined.
Wisconsin also made another change on the offensive line against USC, and this one paid off. The Badgers kept Stylz Blackmon at center for the injured starter Austin Kawecki and inserted Barrett Nelson at right guard in place of PJ Wilkins. The move helped stabilize the group, and Nelson handled the moment well.
“I didn’t talk to him before the game. I didn’t want to make it bigger than it was, even though it was big.
For him, I didn’t want him to think I was singling him out like, ‘oh, we gotta do something special here,'" Fickell said. "We’ve got the utmost faith in him.
Hasn’t had a ton of opportunities because of all the things he’s dealt with, but I thought he did a good job. The moment wasn’t too big.”
Wisconsin got its best push up front of the season against USC, but there’s still a fair question about how much of that was about the opponent. The Badgers are about to find out fast. This week takes them from a manageable defensive front to one of the toughest in the sport, and the test couldn’t be much clearer.
In Other News...
Wisconsins Rotation Is Taking Shape Around One Growing Concern
Wisconsins exhibition slate offered enough to feel encouraged and enough to keep the staff measuring the depth chart with caution. The Badgers finished 3-0, capped by a win over Oklahoma State, and Owen Foxwell looked like the guard most ready to steady things early. He brought efficient scoring and a clear presence in the backcourt, the kind of start that can settle a team while the rest of the rotation sorts itself out.
The bigger question now is what happens in the minutes around him. Other players have flashed, but nobody has yet locked down a dependable scoring role, which leaves the Badgers with a real sense of possibility and a lingering concern as the season approaches. Wisconsin has a workable foundation, but the way those non-Foxwell possessions are filled in may end up shaping how quickly this group finds its rhythm once the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]
Badgers Showed Real Promise But One Issue Still Stands Out
The Badgers closed the preseason with a convincing 82-65 win over Oklahoma State, a performance that offered a cleaner snapshot of what this group can be when the offense is clicking. Owen Foxwell led the way with 19 points and three assists, and he was especially sharp from deep, going 3-for-3 from three-point range as Wisconsin shot 43.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Even with the strong shooting night and a defense that held the Cowboys to 65 points, there was still a familiar issue sitting in the background. Wisconsin turned the ball over 15 times, and while that did not spoil the result in an exhibition setting, it remains the kind of detail that can undercut a promising night once the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Faces Two Iowa Unknowns That Could Decide The Heartland Trophy
Wisconsin heads to Iowa this week with the kind of game that can turn on small details, and the matchup already has a little extra uncertainty baked in. The Badgers, now No. 25, are facing an Iowa team that slipped out of the AP Poll after its loss to Minnesota, but the bigger question is what the Hawkeyes will look like on offense with the quarterback situation still unsettled and Hank Brown set to start.
There is another layer of unpredictability around Iowas backfield, too, with star running back Kamari Moulton out for the season and the workload shifting elsewhere. For Wisconsin, that means preparing for a rivalry game in which the usual scouting report may not hold up for long, and the Heartland Trophy could come down to which side adapts fastest once the ball is kicked off. [Read more 🡒]