By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa and Wisconsin will meet for the 100th time in their football rivalry on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

The Badgers lead the all-time series 49-48-2, so a win for Iowa would even the series.

Iowa has won the last four games in the series in convincing fashion, outscoring the Badgers 118-26 during the current four-game winning streak.

Saturday’s game, however, looks much more competitive on paper.

Both teams are 5-2 overall, but Wisconsin has momentum after defeating USC 24-7 last Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin; and a one-game lead over Iowa in the conference standings with a 3-1 record.

Iowa fell to 2-2 in conference play with the 13-10 loss at Minnesota last Saturday.

Momentum can change quickly, though, and it would change quickly if Iowa were to prevail on Saturday.

Wisconsin’s season got off to a rocky start, losing 41-13 to Notre Dame in the season opener at Lambeau Stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

However, the Badgers are 5-1 since then, the only loss coming against still undefeated UCLA 17-7 on Oct. 17 in Los Angeles.

The wins in addition to USC have comes against Western Illinois (36-9), Eastern Illinois (54-10), Penn State (24-20) and Michigan State (31-3).

“Certainly any time we get together it’s always pretty intense,” said Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. “They’re a team that’s really playing at a high level right now if you look at it. Had an opening loss to a highly-ranked football team in the opening game and really probably the big moment for them, turning point for their season thus far, would be going over and winning at Penn State. They were down not once, but twice in the second half. Down by 10 points two separate times. Then came back to win that game.

“Going into that game, Penn State was nationally ranked; Wisconsin wasn’t. I think everybody’s probably perception of Wisconsin was different prior to that game, and the same thing with Penn State. So big victory for them on the road, and they’ve been playing with great confidence since that time.”

Wisconsin is similar to Iowa in that its strength is on defense where it is allowing just 11.8 points per game in Big Ten games.

Opponents are also averaging just 96.4 rushing yards per game against Wisconsin, so Iowa could be in serious trouble on Saturday if its running game sputters, which it has a tendency to do.

Iowa has failed to rush for 100 yards in four games this season: Iowa State (93), Michigan (58), Ohio State (39) and Minnesota (90). Iowa is 2-2 in those games, losing also to Ohio State 31-14 on Oct. 3 at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa will be without leading rusher Kamari Moulton, who suffered a season-ending arm/shoulder injury in the loss to Minnesota.

Moulton’s loss is significant, but running back is also one of the deepest positions on the team, along with tight end.

Iowa has the edge over Wisconsin in rushing statistics, averaging 179.2 rushing yards per game, while the Badgers are averaging 150.7 rushing yards per game.

Iowa’s per-game rushing average is somewhat misleading, though, because it includes the 422-yard rushing performance in the 55-0 victory over Northern Iowa in week three. Iowa also rushed for more than 200 yards in wins over Northern Illinois and Washington.

The rushing totals from those three games is enough to make Iowa’s per-game average still look respectable, but the inconsistency with the running game is a major concern, because with the Iowa offense, it all starts with the running game.

Iowa and Wisconsin both usually try to establish the run right away, but they go about it differently with Wisconsin’s leding rusher its starting quarterback Colton Joseph.

The Old Dominion transfer has rushed for 365 yards and scored four touchdowns in seven games. He is averaging a team-leading 51.1 rushing yards per game.

Joseph is to Wisconsin’s offense what former Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowksi was to the Iowa offense last season.

Gronowski scored 16 rushing touchdowns last season, and he kept multiple drives alive with his running on third down.

Iowa’s defenders will have to be fully aware of where Joseph is at all times, and be ready to react when he tries to scramble.

As a passer, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Joseph is adequate. He has completed 99 of 173 passes for 1,256 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Iowa quarterbacks Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski have combined to pass for 1,440 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions in seven games this season.

Brown will make his sixth start for Iowa this season, and his first start since the Ohio State game in which he left late in the third quarter with a shoulder injury.

Hecklinski started the last two games against Washington and Minnesota, but he was benched in the second quarter of the Minnesota game after throwing an interception at the Gopher two-yard line, and after nearly throwing another interception near the Minnesota end zone.

It’s reasonable to assume that Brown would have a longer leash in Saturday’s game against Wisconsin than Hecklinski had against Minnesota since Brown started the first five games.

Brown also has twice directed 90-yard fourth-quarter scoring drives while trailing. The first came in the 20-19 win at Michigan as Brown threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Reece Vander Zee as time expired.

The second came against Minnesota last Saturday as Brown led a 98-yard scoring drive in four plays to even the score at 10-10.

Brown already has faced some rock-solid defenses this season, and he will face yet another one on Saturday.

The Badgers finally are showing signs of having a breakthrough season under fourth-year head coach Luke Fickell.

He was considered on the hot seat heading into the season, but his seat has since cooled, thanks to this current surge.

“I think if you think about people’s perception of their football team in August compared to what it is right now things have shifted a little bit, and that’s really representative I think of college football in general,” Kirk Ferentz said of the Badgers. “They’re very well-coached. Luke was an outstanding coach prior to going to Wisconsin, and nothing has changed there. The players that they’ve had that we saw last year, the year before, have really grown and matured, and then they’ve added players.

“They’ve been very successful in terms of bringing players in from the portal that have really been helpful to them and beneficial to what they’re doing.”

Former Iowa State running back Abu Sama III is one of Wisconsin’s top portal additions, and a big-play threat. The former Southeast Polk star is Wisconsin’s second leading rusher with 295 rushing yards, and is averaging 5.8 yards per carry.

Turnovers led to Iowa’s demise at Minnesota last Saturday, and could also be a determining factor against Wisconsin on Saturday.

Iowa was careless and sloppy with the football against the Gophers, throwing three interceptions and having a punt blocked.

If it weren’t for the defense holding Minnesota to just 209 yards, the margin of defeat likely would have been bigger because of the turnovers.

“It’s a miracle we were in the game at the end,” Kirk Ferentz said.

Iowa dominated Wisconsin the last time the teams played at Kinnick Stadium, winning 42-10 in 2024. Iowa has won five of the last six meetings, all by two scores or more.

But at this moment, Wisconsin has momentum from its impressive win over USC, while Iowa has concerns on offense after performing so poorly against Minnesota.

“The bottom line is they’re just playing at a really high level right now,” Kirk Ferentz said of the Badgers. “We have a big challenge on our hands. We need to do our best to be ready for that.”

Iowa is hosting Wisconsin for Homecoming for the first time in 38 years. The Hawkeyes defeated Wisconsin 31-6 in 1988.

The final score probably won’t be as lopsided on Saturday, but the gut feeling here is that Iowa will be ready to meet the challenge, partly from playing at home.

When teams appear to be this evenly matched on paper, home-field advantage often can make the difference.

Hank Brown shouldn’t have to win Saturday’s game, but he has to avoid losing it.

It would certainly help Brown’s cause if Iowa could stay ahead of the chains with its ground attack.

But there isn’t much reason to think that will happen, given Iowa’s track record.

So Iowa might have to win this game the hard way by just grinding it out and by holding Wisconsin to fewer than 20 points.

Prediction: Iowa 19, Wisconsin 17

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No. 25 Wisconsin (5-2, 3-1) vs. No. 24 Iowa (5-2, 2-2)

When: Saturday, 11:10 a.m.

Where: Kinnick Stadium, (69,250)

TV: FOX

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

Series history: Saturday will be the 100th meeting between Iowa and Wisconsin in a series that began in 1894. Through 99 games, Wisconsin leads 49-48-2.

The Hawkeyes have won four straight in the series for the first time since 2002-06. Iowa went 17-0-1 against the Badgers from 1977-1996, which included a 10- game win streak from 1985-96.

Iowa is outscoring Wisconsin, 118-26, during the current four-game winning streak.

Iowa is 27-20-1 all-time against the Badgers in games played in Iowa City.

The Hawkeyes dominated Wisconsin in 2024, winning 42-10 inside Kinnick Stadium. The 32-point margin of victory was Iowa’s largest in the series since 1996 (41-0).