Defense, special teams carry Iowa to 24-10 victory over Wisconsin
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The same issues on offense that have plagued the Iowa football team throughout the season caused major problems again on Saturday against Wisconsin.
But this game was another case of the Iowa defense and special teams coming to the rescue in spectacular fashion as Iowa defeated the Badgers 24-10 at a chilly and sold out Kinnick Stadium.
A blocked punt by defensive end Deontae Craig, which led to a short touchdown run by Kaleb Johnson early in the second quarter, coupled with a pick-six by defensive back Cooper DeJean late in the second quarter, were key factors in the win.
With Iowa clinging to a 14-10 lead, DeJean also returned a punt 41 yards to the Wisconsin 18, giving Iowa a first down with 50 seconds left in the third quarter.
DeJean was inserted as the punt returner for Saturday’s game due to an injury to sophomore receiver Arland Bruce, who usually returns punts.
Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras capped the drive with a 1-yard scoring plunge for a touchdown, expanding the lead to 21-10 with 13:52 left to play.
Iowa only had 108 yards at that point, and finished the game with just 146 yards, but it didn’t matter because the Iowa defense and special teams performed at such a high level.
Iowa only converted on 6-of-19 3rd-down plays, but Wisconsin was almost as bad, converting on just 6-of-17 3rd-down plays.
“We weren’t very good on first downs today, we didn’t run the ball effectively,” senior tight end Sam LaPorta said. “But we’ll get that cleaned up. A lot of long third-downs today, which are tough to convert, which had us backed up.
“But the defense played their butts off and made great field position when we did put points on the board. So, that a testament to the special teams unit and the defensive unit.”
Tory Taylor had a 58-yard punt in the third quarter that pinned Wisconsin deep in its own territory.
The Badgers after going nowhere on offense, were then forced to punt and that’s when DeJean made them pay with his long punt return.
Stevens capped the scoring for Iowa by making a 44-yard field goal with 2:54 left to play. The true freshman from North Augusta, South Carolina has now made 13-of-15 field-goal attempts this season.
Iowa has won three games in a row and improved to 6-4 overall and 4-3 in the Big Ten, while Wisconsin fell to 5-5 and 3-4 in conference play.
Saturday’s win marked just the third time that Iowa has defeated Wisconsin in the last 11 games.
It also moved Iowa into a four-way tie for first place in the Big Ten West Division with Illinois, Purdue and Minnesota, which will host the surging Hawkeyes next Saturday in Minneapolis.
This is a dramatic change from just three weeks ago when Iowa committed six turnovers in a 54-10 loss against Ohio State on Oct. 22 in Columbus.
Many feared the season was on the verge of collapse, but the Iowa players and coaches have just kept grinding and working to get better, and now they’re being rewarded for it.
The offense still is a major concern, but it’s much easier being concerned when your team is winning.
The Iowa defense held Wisconsin to just 51 rushing yards, which is well below its 183.33 per-game average, and also sacked Badger quarterback Graham Mertz four times and forced a fumble.
Wisconsin scored its only touchdown on a passing play late in the second quarter when Iowa had a rare breakdown in coverage in the secondary.
But that was it for the Badger offense as the Phil Parker-led Iowa defense led the way to victory.
Iowa has now won 13 games in a row in the month of November with its last lost coming against Wisconsin in 2019.
“When you sign your national letter of intent to play at a Big Ten university, these are the kinds of games you fantasize about,” said Iowa senior linebacker Jack Campbell. “It’s such a blessing to be able to compete with some of the best teams in the nation. All of us are really blessed with the opportunity.
“We were able to control the line of scrimmage tonight.”
Iowa went 3-and-out on its first offensive possession of the game and then Petras was sacked and lost a fumble in Wisconsin territory on Iowa’s second possession of the game.
However, the Iowa defense forced the Badgers to settle for a 32-yard field goal by Nate Van Zelst with 4:14 left in the first quarter.
The Badgers ran 10 plays on the drive, but only gained 37 yards on those 10 plays.
That drive would be a sign of things to come for Wisconsin’s offense.
Iowa was trailing 3-0 when Deontae Craig blocked a punt that linebacker Jay Higgins returned three yards to the Badger 17 with 10:55 left in the second quarter.
Petras then connected with senior tight end Sam LaPorta for 13 yards on first down and Kaleb Johnson followed with a 4-yard touchdown run with 10:24 left before halftime.
Drew Stevens made the point-after kick to give Iowa a 7-3 lead, which in this game, felt almost like a double-digit lead.
Craig gave credit to Iowa special teams coach LeVar Woods for putting him in the right position to block the punt.
“All week LeVar Woods has been playing older clips of pro-style protection,” Craig said. “The first couple times on the rushes, I saw him duck his head a little bit. The third time coach gave me the freedom all week to take it up the field or duck it off inside. And I saw an opening, took it inside and was able to punch the ball.”
Iowa scored its second touchdown when DeJean returned a Graham Mertz pass in the flat 32 yards for a touchdown with 1:58 left before halftime. Stevens made the point-after kick to give Iowa a 14-3 lead.
“It was man coverage,” DeJean said. “I probably got beat a little bit. Then I came back out of it and I just saw the ball coming and had to make a play there and then it was green grass ahead.’
It was DeJean’s second pick-six of the season as he also had one against Rutgers, and his fourth interception overall.
Wisconsin answered back quickly, however, as Mertz threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Keontez Lewis with 52 seconds left in the second quarter.
There was an obvious breakdown in Iowa’s pass coverage as cornerback Riley Moss apparently thought that he had help coming from the safety position when he didn’t.
Lewis as a result was wide open and Mertz hit him in stride.
Iowa led 14-10 at halftime despite only having 79 yards.
Wisconsin 3 7 0 0 – 10
Iowa 0 14 0 10 – 24
W- Nate Van Zelst 32 FG
I – Kaleb Johnson 4 run (Drew Stevens kick)
I – Spencer Petras 1 run (Stevens kick)
I – Stevens 44 FG