Iowa seniors go out in style with rare and decisive win over Badgers
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa football team’s 2020 senior class already had quite a story to tell about a year, and a season, like no other.
And now they get to add another chapter about something else strange that occurred on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium as Iowa defeated Wisconsin for the first time since 2015, and for the first time at Kinnick Stadium since 2008.
The final score was 28-7, and that says all you need to know about Iowa’s suffocating defense, and about Wisconsin’s sputtering offense.
“Our defense played an incredible game and they did a good job of giving the offense confidence,” said Iowa junior offensive lineman Mark Kallenberger. “They have our backs, so a big shout out to our whole entire defense.”
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz was especially pleased and happy for his 22-player senior class.
“I’m just really happy for everybody, especially our seniors,” Ferentz said. “I’m really happy for them, the seniors, to have a great memory as they leave Kinnick. That’s really a special thing for each and everyone of them.”
Both offenses struggled in Saturday’s game, especially in the first half, but then Iowa marched 71 yards for a touchdown on its opening possession of the third quarter.
The touchdown came on a 19-yard pass from Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras to receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette with 8 minutes, 49 seconds left in the quarter. Petras and Smith-Marsette also hooked up on a 38-yard pass play on the drive.
Leading 12-0, Iowa chose to go for two as Petras completed a pass to senior receiver Brandon Smith, making the score, 14-0, which felt like 41-0 in this game.
The Iowa defense then forced Wisconsin to punt for the seventh time in the game, however, disaster struck as Charlie Jones fumbled the punt and the Badgers recovered at the Iowa 25-yard line.
Wisconsin then scored its only touchdown three plays later, and suddenly, Iowa’s lead was cut in half, with nearly 1 ½ quarters left to play.
Petras and Smith-Marsette struck again, though, late in the third quarter on a 53-yard scoring strike. The speedy Smith-Marsette slipped past the Badger secondary and Petras hit him in stride.
Smith-Marsette showed his excitement by performing a front-flip as he crossed the end zone. However, he appeared to land awkwardly and then limped off the field to the locker room, and returned later with his left foot in a boot.
Smith-Marsette said on a zoom conference afterwards that he was wearing the boot as a precautionary measure.
Iowa had a 150 yards in the third quarter alone, after having gained just 112 yards in the first half.
Whatever the coaches said at halftime, and whatever adjustments were made on offense, it paid huge dividends in the second half and changed the course of the game.
Iowa scored its fourth and final touchdown on an 80-yard run by sophomore running back Tyler Goodson with 4:09 left to play.
Goodson’s touchdown run was the longest for an Iowa player since Tavian Banks scored on an 82-yard run against Iowa State in 1997.
The offense defense had just stopped Wisconsin from scoring as sophomore linebacker Jack Campbell intercepted a pass in the end zone.
That gave Iowa a first-down at its own 20, and then Goodson broke loose on the first play from scrimmage to seal the victory.
Iowa finished the regular season with six consecutive victories, and with a 6-2 record, while the Badgers fell to 2-3, with three of their games canceled due to COVID-19 health concerns.
Iowa also took possession of the Heartland Trophy, which goes to the winner of this game, and then had an emotional celebration in the locker room afterwards.
“It was awesome to send the seniors off like that,” Kallenberger said.
Both teams now have to wait to see who they will face next week in the Big Ten postseason.
Iowa finished second in the Big Ten West Division behind Northwestern, but it’s uncertain who Iowa will face the second-place team from the East Division.
The fact that Iowa is even in this position speaks volumes about the team’s resolve and determination. Iowa lost its first two games against Purdue and Northwestern by a combined five points, and some were doubting the program, and head coach Kirk Ferentz, in the wake of a tumultuous offseason in which multiple former Iowa black players accused the program of racial disparities.
“I’m proud of my guys,” said senior defensive end Chauncey Golston. “There was a whole bunch of people talking about us like, ‘oh, my God, maybe some of the stuff that happened in the offseason is playing on them. But we came through and we’ve run off six in a row.
“So I’m just excited to see what comes in the future.”
Petras completed 14-of-25 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns, while Goodson had 106 rushing yards on 11 carries.
When the game ended, several Iowa players, including defensive tackle and Wisconsin native Daviyon Nixon and defensive back back Dane Belton, celebrated the win by doing snow angels on the field.
“That was fun,” said Belton, who is from Tampa, Fla. “That was the first time I’ve ever done a snow angel, and my first snow game coming from Florida. It was just fun knowing that we put the effort in throughout the week. We did our thing and I felt like it was the perfect time to break out my snow angel.”
The Iowa defense had reason to celebrate after holding the Badgers to just 225 yards, including 56 on the ground, while the Iowa offense overcame a poor first half to score three touchdowns in the second half despite adverse weather conditions.
The first half was dominated by punting, television commercials, more punting and more television commercials.
Tory Taylor and Andy Vujnovich combined to punt 13 times for a combined 559 yards in the first half, which ended with Iowa senior kicker Keith Duncan making a 45-yard field goal with 1 second remaining in the second quarter. It was Duncan’s 20th field goal from at least 40 yards, which is a school record, and it gave Iowa a 6-0 lead at halftime.
Duncan also made a 20-yard field goal in the second quarter.
That was the extent of the offense in the first two quarters.
As poorly as Iowa performed on offense in the first half, Wisconsin was even worse, gaining just 66 yards in the first half, including 35 on the ground.
Iowa, on its opening possession of the game, faced a 4th-and-1 at its own 40, but Kirk Ferentz chose to punt.
The punt only netted 20 yards, but it was a preview of things to come in a game where field position was huge and points were hard to come by.
Wisconsin 0 0 7 0 – 7
Iowa 3 3 15 7 – 28
I – Keith Duncan 30 FG
I – Duncan 45 FG
I – Ihmir Smith-Marsette 19 pass from Spencer Petras (Duncan kick)
W – Nakia Watson 1 run (Collin Larsh kick)
I – Smith-Marsette 53 pass from Petras (Duncan kick)
I – Tyler Goodson 80 run (Duncan kick)