Iowa Hawkeyes @ Wisconsin Badgers Pre Game

The Wisconsin Badgers, after a fairly poor performance on the road at Ohio State, will come back to the friendly confines of Camp Randall Stadium to take on the only undefeated team left in the Big Ten Conference, the Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa, coming into the game with the 11 th best team in the nation, is a perfect 6-0 with a 2-0 record against the Big Ten. These two wins against powerhouses Penn State and Michigan. Leading the charge for the Hawkeyes is quarterback Ricky Stanzi, who has 1,359 yards passing this season so far to go along with 10 touchdown passes. Stanzi is a fantastic talent who spreads the ball very well to his receivers. The Badgers will really have a tough time preparing for him because Stanzi is comfortable throwing to all of his receivers. Trey Stross and Tony Moeaki lead the team in receptions with both having 17. Stross has more receiving yards at 268 but Moeaki has 2 more touchdown receptions on the year. Iowa’s rushing attack is nothing to look past either as their two top tail backs average better than 4 yards per carry and have a combined 7 touchdowns.

Iowa averages right around 26 points per game which is somewhat good news for the Badgers as they, on the other hand, right around 32 points per game. The only falter in that category was the lifeless 13 points they were able to muster against Ohio State. If the Badgers can get their offense back on the right track and protect quarterback Scott Tolzien, this matchup is going to heavily favor the Badgers, especially at home. The brightest spot during the Ohio State game was their ability to shut down the Buckeye offense. Two costly turnovers and a special teams touchdown were the main cogs in the machine that propelled Ohio State to victory. If that same defense shows up at home against Iowa, this could be a much larger point differential than most are expecting.

Wisconsin averages 422 yards on offense per game. Even after a less than stellar performance from surprise quarterback Scott Tolzien, he still comes into the Iowa game with 1,293 yards passing and 9 passing touchdowns. However it will be up to the Wisconsin rushing attack to control the tempo of the game and keep the Iowa offense on the sideline giving their defense rest. John Clay, the Badgers star running back, is going to need a big day along the lines of the game he had against the Minnesota Golden Gophers to help take the pressure off of Tolzien and get the team moving back in the right direction again. The key to this game is to not take these Hawkeyes too lightly, they always seem to step up their game when it comes to marquee matchups like this one and the Badgers need to answer the call and deliver in front of the Wisconsin faithful.

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