Iowa Football: Unit Grades From Loss to Wisconsin

Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

Grades for the Hawkeyes from their loss to Wisconsin on Saturday

Iowa football had to play a near perfect game on Saturday to upset the Wisconsin Badgers. It didn’t happen and Iowa suffered their third loss of the season, losing to Wisconsin 17-9. Overall the Hawkeyes didn’t play bad, although a couple of costly plays in every department added up and cost them in the end.

With a bye week coming up, the Hawkeyes will have a chance to reflect on their season up to this point and better prepare for a tough matchup against Penn State at home. The Nittany Lions aren’t one of the most feared teams in the Big Ten, although they upset the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, meaning Iowa will have to play very well to win in Happy Valley.

That being said, there are a lot of positives Iowa can take from their loss. They continued to build off their wins over Minnesota and Purdue in prior weeks, but Wisconsin proved to simply be the better team in the end. If a couple of plays went Iowa’s way it could have been a different story, though.

Here’s a look at how each unit performed during the loss to Wisconsin.

Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

Offense: C+

It’s not easy to score on Wisconsin. It’s been proven time and time again, and Iowa was unable to crack the code. A few more risks on fourth down by Kirk Ferentz could have led to a couple of more field goals or a touchdown, but the offense played better than expected for the most part.

Nine points are the second fewest Wisconsin has allowed this season, but Iowa had chances to find the end zone. Iowa kept pounding the ball and caught Wisconsin’s defense sleeping down field, but couldn’t take advantage in the first half. Jay Scheel dropped a catchable ball in the second quarter that would have brought the Hawkeyes into the red zone.

Plus, the booth overturned a Noah Fant touchdown late fourth quarter. It wouldn’t have mattered in the end since Iowa didn’t recover the onside kick, but it’s not like the Hawkeyes never got near the end zone. Either way, Iowa only managed nine points, and that’s what matters.

The biggest surprise of the afternoon, though, was the play of the offensive line. After struggling a bit at the start of the game, the banged up line stepped up and took control of the game. Wisconsin only sacked C.J. Beathard twice and didn’t get hit on every passing play.

Although, while the line deserves a lot of credit, Beathard played arguably his smartest game of the season. He got out of the pocket when it was collapsing, tried to fight through sacks and threw the ball away when needed. Not everyone in Kinnick Stadium agreed when he decided to throw it away, but it was smarter than taking a big sack. Beathard needed to play smart and give Iowa manageable third downs, and that’s what he did.

Sure, Iowa only converted 2-of-13 third downs, but that’s a testament to the stifling defense Wisconsin has. A simple 4th and 2 isn’t even easy to convert against one of the toughest run defenses in the nation.

That being said, LeShun Daniels Jr and Akrum Wadley were able to find more holes as the game went on. They combined to rush for 79 yards on 20 carries — 3.9 yards per carry. However, Wadley single-handedly took the game over with his 4.4 yards per carry (44 rushing yards) and seven receptions for 72 yards, both leading the team.

Nine points are frustrating against any defense, but Wisconsin didn’t completely shut down the Hawkeyes. Iowa could have taken a few more risks or kept playing at a faster tempo, which worked very well and was when Iowa moved the ball the best, but they also missed chances.

For as well as Iowa played on offense, too many mistakes against an unforgiving defense proved to be the difference.

Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

Defense: A-

The defense had their problems, but the scoreboard says 17 points and that should have been enough to get a win. Not to mention holding Wisconsin to just seven points in the first half and not letting them blow the game open early, which seemed like a possibility on every drive in the first half.

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The defense once again bent but didn’t break, and this week didn’t look terribly tired in the fourth quarter. They never allowed more than one score per quarter and continued to give Iowa chances in the second half. They only thing they didn’t do to help the offense was score a touchdown, and that proved to be costly.

Sure, you can nitpick and say that two missed field goals and a Corey Clement fumble on the one yard line could have been 13 more points. But why negate costly special teams mistakes by Wisconsin and a great goal line stand?

After a 54-yard reception by Kyle Penniston that brought Wisconsin to the five yard line, the defense stuffed Corey Clement twice and then forced a fumble on third down and recovered it for a touchback. Considering Wisconsin could have blown the game open with a 14-3 lead right before half, it’s the biggest stop of the season for Iowa, especially since Iowa scored a field goal right before half on the ensuing drive.

Running into Iowa defenders was a common theme for Clement, though. He carried the ball 35 times for 134 yards and a touchdown — 3.4 yards per carry. However, if you take out his long 34-yard run in the fourth quarter, Clement only averaged 2.9 yards per carry. The defense held him in check and forced Alex Hornibrook to beat them, and he did just enough, despite being replaced by Bart Houston in the fourth quarter.

Even though the defensive line stopped Clement, they failed to consistently pressure the quarterback. Jaleel Johnson had back-to-back sacks on a crucial drive late in the third quarter, but Iowa only hurried the quarterback three times all game. The extra time helped the young quarterback find open receivers.

That being said, the defense’s biggest problem was tackling. There were a lot of poor tackling attempts, especially by the secondary. Whenever the Badgers got to the second level the defense had a tough time bringing the runner down, and it led to bigger gains.

It also helped Wisconsin convert almost 50 percent of their third down attempts (8-of-17). Iowa’s inability to tackle and defend Dare Ogunbowale out of the backfield was troubling to see. The defense didn’t feel the fatigue later in the game like in past weeks, but it helped cause the lopsided time of possession battle.

When it comes down to it, the defense caught some breaks, but they also only allowed 17 points. The run defense looked tough against one of the better backs in the Big Ten, as well. Just like every week there are things Iowa needs to improve on, but the defense kept Iowa in the game and came up with a key fumble recovery.

Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

Special Teams/Coaching: D

An area that Iowa is usually strong in struggled against Wisconsin. Besides a 77-yard kickoff return by Desmond King that gave Iowa hope down 11 with just over a minute left, the Hawkeyes didn’t look sharp on special teams.

Ron Coluzzi never had a great punt on eight tries, failing to pin Wisconsin inside the 20.

Miguel Recinos did make a 47-yard field goal, but Keith Duncan missed his first field goal of the season. In his first pressure situation with 5:25 remaining, Duncan missed a 38-yard field goal that would have brought Iowa within five, and could have been the difference late in the game.

To be fair, it seemed odd that down eight late in the fourth quarter, Kirk Ferentz turned to his freshman kicker rather than trusting his senior quarterback to convert on 4th and 5. Ferentz didn’t help his cause in the post game press conference either when saying that Iowa needed two scores when Iowa was only down eight. Whether he was actually referring to when Duncan made a 25-yard field goal down 17-6 or he just can’t do math, it wasn’t his best moment.

Also, Ferentz opted towards playing at a slower pace for most of the game despite Iowa finding the most success in a high-tempo offense. It kept Wisconsin on their toes and short passes and runs added up and helped Iowa march down the field.

It seemed like Ferentz tried to play it safe and not lose the game on a costly play. He punted on 4th and 1 at midfield instead of trying a QB sneak and trusting his defense if they couldn’t convert. It was deadlocked at zero and a big fourth down conversion could have sparked the Hawkeyes and given them an edge early.

Teams need to take chances to pull off upsets, and Ferentz didn’t.

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