By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – For those loyal to either team, it’s always a big deal when Iowa and Wisconsin square off in football as they will for the 99th time Saturday night in Madison, Wisconsin.

Iowa vs. Wisconsin is your classic Big Ten border rivalry between two proud and sturdy developmental programs, which in both cases have managed to sustain success for multiple decades.

This game has often been relevant from a big picture standpoint, especially when the Big Ten was divided into two divisions as Iowa and Wisconsin used to dominate the Big Ten West Division.

But those days are long gone with 18 teams in the conference, and right now Iowa and Wisconsin are just trying to hang on to whatever relevance and opportunity they both have, which isn’t much.

Iowa is 3-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play, while Wisconsin is 2-3 and 0-2 under third-year head coach Luke Fickell. The Badgers also have lost seven straight Big Ten games dating back to last season with perhaps the lowest of the low points being the 42-10 loss to Iowa in the ninth game of last season.

The loser of this game will be flirting with disaster, especially in the case of Wisconsin, while the winner will breath a sigh of relief for avoiding a potential disaster, at least for another week.

No disrespect to the Hawkeyes, but they might be on paper the most winnable game left on Wisconsin’ schedule. Four of Wisconsin’s final six opponents are currently ranked, and the two exceptions – Washington and Minnesota – are far from pushovers.

The annual showdown with the Gophers will also be played in Minneapolis the day after Thanksgiving.

This game has low scoring written all over it as both offenses leave much to be desired.

Iowa only averages 148.6 passing yards per game, while Wisconsin only averages 109.2 rushing yards per game.

How the mighty have fallen in the case of Wisconsin’s once vaunted running game, which under Barry Alvarez made rushing for 200 yards in a game look easier than not wearing socks with dress shoes.

Nothing seems to come easy for Wisconsin on offense these days, and Iowa really isn’t much better.

Defensively, both teams as usual are tough, fundamentally sound and connected.

Iowa might not be as dominate on defense as it was last season.

But defense still is the team’s biggest strength and its guiding force.

Wisconsin’s back end might be vulnerable to the pass, but it’s front wall is rock solid.

“Talking about Wisconsin, typically really no different like a lot of the last 20-plus years,” said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. “They’re a big, physical team, strong team. I expect it to be another tough Big Ten road game.

“The fact that they’ve moved it to a night game makes it even more of a challenge. It seems to be the way it is in college football right now. We expect a real tough contest.”

Iowa will undoubtedly want to establish the run because that is always the No. 1 goal under Kirk Ferentz heading into any game.

But establishing the run has even more significance in this game due to the situation at quarterback where Mark Gronowski is expected to play on Saturday despite having suffered what Kirk Ferentz said was essentially a knee sprain early in the fourth quarter of the 20-15 loss to Indiana on Sept. 27 at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa is coming off a bye week, which means Gronowski has had an extra week to recover.

But he also injured the same knee in which he suffered a torn ACL while playing for South Dakota State in 2021, and he relies heavily on his rushing skills to make key plays, putting additional stress on his knee joints.

Gronowski leads Iowa with seven rushing touchdowns and he has at least one rushing touchdown in each of the five games this season.

If Gronowski were unable to play on Saturday, or if he were to struggle because of the injury or have a setback physically, backups Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski would be next in line.

So it’s either Gronowski coming off an injury or the two backups.

Either way, it’s a concern.

If Iowa can’t stay ahead of the chains with its running game, then even more pressure will fall on the quarterback to deliver.

That script has played out countless times for the Hawkeyes in recent seasons, but rarely has the Iowa quarterback delivered under those circumstances.

Wisconsin has its own problems at quarterback as Maryland transfer Billy Edwards barely has played this season because of an injury that occurred in the season opener.

Redshirt senior Hunter Simmons was Wisconsin’s No. 3 quarterback when the season started, but he has since moved past Danny O’Neil on the depth chart and will start on Saturday with Edwards still unlikely to play

Simmons had his moments in last Saturday’s 24-10 loss at Michigan, completing 18 of 29 passes for 177 yards and one interception.

“Offensively, probably the biggest difference is that Coach Fickell has been there a couple years now,” Kirk Ferentz said. “Defensively, they look pretty much like they did, except different personnel. Offensively, they have a new system. They’ve been dealing with the quarterback rotation as well. Injuries had factored into their play.

“Looks to me like, again, just TV scouting and watching from afar, looked like Saturday they kind of settled in and found a little bit of a home base there. It looked typical Wisconsin. Ran the ball really well. Big, strong guys up front. They’ve had some injuries on the line, have some road guys rotating. Looked like they settled in pretty well there. Did a nice job. The quarterback did a good job. You never know what to expect, but that’s the line as they move forward.”

The atmosphere inside Camp Randall Stadium should be electric by the time Saturday’s 6 p.m. kick arrives. It usually is when the Hawkeyes and Badgers play, but with this also being one of Iowa’s five night games this season, the energy should be even stronger.

“One thing that’s consistent, their crowds, it’s a tough place to play,” Kirk Ferentz said. “You’re playing a good football team. That’s what we’re looking at there.”

To say that Wisconsin is a good football team is probably a stretch.

However, the Badgers are dangerous, and even more so at home.

The humiliation that came from last season’s 32-point drubbing at Iowa also now serves as inspiration for the Wisconsin players.

But it takes more than just inspiration to win games.

Prediction: Iowa 17, Wisconsin 16