No. 10 Wisconsin stuns Iowa, 31-30

IOWA CITY - They're big, they're brass. That's all you have to know about Bret Bielema.

Fourth-and-4 from Wisconsin's 26. Down six points. About six minutes left.

The Iowa Hawkeyes dropped off in a punt return. Wisconsin punter Brad Nortman pulled the ball down and burst up the middle for 17 yards and a first down.

That spark lit the fuse for Montee Ball's 8-yard TD run and for No. 10 Wisconsin's 31-30 victory before 70,585 fans Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

Bielema is Wisconsin's special teams coach. He put it all on himself with the fake punt that kept the Badgers (7-1, 3-1 Big Ten) in the Big Ten title conversation.

“That was awesome. That was one of the reasons I came here,” Wisconsin linebacker Blake Sorensen said. “That doesn't surprise me at all. He's not afraid. That's a coach you love to play for.”

No. 13 Iowa (5-2, 2-1) had its chance. The Hawkeyes didn't seem to know what to do with it.

The fateful moment came with 14 seconds left. Quarterback Ricky Stanzi had just plunged ahead for a first down. Iowa was down to its last timeout. Stanzi made the “spiking” motion and then dropped back into shotgun.

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He looked over to the Iowa sideline for what seemed to be forever. There was some confusion and Iowa ended up burning its last timeout.

“We felt we could've spiked it or could've taken the timeout. We chose to take the timeout,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “If we spike it, we probably burn three seconds there. I think the fake punt was probably a bigger play in the game than that decision.”

After the non-spike timeout, Stanzi was flushed from the pocket and just shoveled the ball forward to running back Adam Robinson. He instinctively caught it, saw a couple Wisconsin defenders around him and bolted for the sideline with about 4 seconds left.

He didn't make it.

“Helpless feeling,” said Robinson, who rushed for 114 yards and a TD.

Fake punt or the non-spike timeout disarray, there's your debate.

“Both plans can be positive and both plans can be negative,” Stanzi said. “It's hard to say one thing was bad and one thing wasn't. You just live with what happened.”

Wisconsin players rushed to the Iowa sideline and secured the Heartland Trophy, a bauble they hadn't touched since 2007. They get to keep it now until at least 2013. Because of Big Ten expansion, Iowa and Wisconsin won't meet the next two seasons.

The game came down to one point. That one point can be easily traced to Iowa's special teams.

Pick your poison: penalties, field position, penalties.

“To me, the story of the game was our special teams play and penalty situation,” Ferentz said.

Bielema said he saw something on film. The Hawkeyes sent two rushers on both ends into three upbacks in front of Nortman. The rest of Iowa bolted down field in block mode. The Badgers sold it beautifully.

“We had seen that they had gone with two edge pressures and were covering down,” Bielema said. “We made the call once I saw them send out the punt return unit. Great execution, great faith.”

For the first time in forever, Iowa's defense buckled.

Wisconsin answered every Iowa volley. Down 13-10 at halftime, the Badgers went up 17-13 on a 2-yard run by John Clay and that set off a teeter-totter second half.

Stanzi hit wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos for 45 yards and a 20-17 Iowa lead. Clay scored again from 2 for a 24-20 UW lead. Stanzi, who completed 25 of 37 for 258 yards and three TDs, hit Marvin McNutt for a 6-yarder and a 27-24 lead.

Safety Brett Greenwood's interception set up the Hawkeyes at Wisconsin's 26. Iowa drove 3 yards on four plays and set up Mike Meyer's 40-yard field goal with 8:35 left. First down at UW's 26 and Iowa squeezed only three out of it.

“We were looking for points and seven would've been nice, but we got three out of it,” offensive lineman Julian Vandervelde said.

Iowa's defense broke. Defensive end Adrian Clayborn broke down after the game. He paused, left the interview room and came back with tears in his eyes.

“The defense didn't step up when we needed it,” Clayborn said. “We had two three-and-outs. That's unacceptable.”

They have a week to fix it.

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