Wisconsin’s 30-0 loss to Iowa on Saturday was ugly everywhere you looked, and the defense didn’t escape the wreckage. The Badgers were beaten in Iowa City from the opening series on, and while the offense drew plenty of blame, the defensive side had more than enough issues to keep this from being just a one-unit disaster.
The front seven never found a real answer for Iowa quarterback Hank Brown, even if the Hawkeyes didn’t completely run wild on the ground. Iowa finished with 140 rushing yards on 42 carries, a 3.3-yard average, but the bigger problem for Wisconsin was the absence of consistent heat on Brown. Once he settled in, he had time to work and repeatedly found openings in the secondary.
Sebastian Cheeks was the one defender who kept flashing. The EDGE racked up four pressures and produced Wisconsin’s only sack, coming in the second quarter.
Beyond him, though, the pass rush largely disappeared. Tyreese Fearbry was quiet, Justus Boone’s season-high 37 snaps didn’t lead to much, and the interior line offered only a brief early highlight when Charles Perkins made a strong tackle near the goal line on Iowa’s opening drive to help force a field goal.
That was about as good as it got up front.
The linebackers, though, told a different story. Cooper Catalano was everywhere, finishing with a game-high 16 tackles, five of them solo, along with 1.5 tackles for loss.
He also recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter for Wisconsin’s lone takeaway after forcing one earlier in the second quarter that Iowa recovered. Mason Posa matched that effort in his own way, posting 13 tackles, six solo stops, 0.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup.
Both sophomore linebackers earned elite PFF grades above 90, the top two marks on the team and season bests for each.
Jon Jon Kamara also made his limited chances count after barely playing over the previous two games. The Kansas transfer was on the field for 19 snaps and turned in an 89.4 PFF grade, highlighted by a forced fumble in the fourth quarter that Catalano scooped up. Aaron Witt saw a bigger role too, logging a season-high 33 snaps and forcing a first-quarter fumble that went out of bounds, though his 55.5 PFF grade showed the overall performance wasn’t as clean.
Even with those individual bright spots, Wisconsin’s defense still spent most of the afternoon on its heels, and the secondary took the hardest hit. Brown carved it up, going 20-for-24 for 222 yards and two touchdowns as Iowa kept finding ways to attack the back end.
Jai’mier Scott had a rough day at corner, drawing three penalties - two pass interference calls and one holding - while finishing with a 53.3 PFF grade. Javan Robinson checked in at 59.7, Eric Fletcher Jr. at 52.6, and Bryce West wasn’t at his usual level in the slot.
West played a season-low 17 snaps, and it’s fair to wonder whether the shoulder stinger he suffered last week played a part.
Safety play was shaky too, starting on Iowa’s first possession. On third down, Matt Jung bit too hard underneath and slipped in coverage, opening the door for a 45-yard completion.
Jung’s season has been up and down, and this was a step back after some recent progress. He still finished with 12 tackles, nine solo, and a tackle for loss, but he also allowed completions on all five passes thrown his way for 73 yards and missed two tackles.
Marvin Burks Jr. was mostly steady, but Cairo Skanes had a rough outing after his interception last week, playing 25 snaps and finishing with a defense-worst 41.8 PFF grade.
Mike Tressel’s scheme deserves its share of criticism, but the breakdowns weren’t just about coaching. Wisconsin missed assignments, gave up too much in coverage and stacked penalties on top of it all. That combination left the defense with nowhere to hide.
Special teams at least avoided the kind of meltdown that plagued the rest of the day. Sean West was busy because Wisconsin’s offense couldn’t stay on the field, and the punter handled six kicks for 279 yards, a 46.5-yard average. His longest punt went 55 yards in the first quarter, and he pinned Iowa inside its own 20 on a fourth-quarter boot.
The return game didn’t change much either way. Wisconsin didn’t give up anything disastrous, but it also never found a spark. Outside of West’s punting, the special teams unit was mostly forgettable - which, on this day, counted as one of the few things that didn’t go wrong.
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