The Iowa Hawkeyes are at home to take on 22nd ranked Wisconsin. Iowa’s defense will need a better effort against the run. The Hawks have given up an averaged of 250 yards on the ground in the past two games and will go up against a Badger offense that averages nearly 300 yards on the ground.
“It’s a very different style for us, it’s going to be a transition for us on both sides of the football. These guys are very different than the offensive teams we have played the last couple of weeks,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says. He says a big key will be slowing down the Badger’s “jet sweep”. “It’s been a big thing for them, I remember they had us on the ropes right off the bat in ’09 up there with that same package. They ended up not getting a lot of points, but it felt like we were losing 25-0 at halftime,” Ferentz says.
Sophomore quarterback Joel Stave has passed for nearly 1,500 yards and 13 touchdowns for a Badger offense that relies on balance. Ferentz says two weeks ago they played a team with a quarterback and runningback as the focal points and last week it was a team with a quarterback. He says this week they have runningbacks and a quarterback to be aware of on defense.
Wisconsin is 5-2. The Hawkeyes are 5-3.