What happens when two of the B1G's best defenders meet?

MADISON, Wis. — There probably was no other way it could go down. The Iowa-Wisconsin game saw four scoring drives, three of which were field goals. The total yards covered in those four scoring drives was 115 yards. Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard completed nine passes, was sacked four times and hurried another seven.

So, of course, No. 23 Iowa's 10-6 victory at Camp Randall Stadium spawned not one but two Big Ten defensive players of the week.

That's the only way this could've gone down.

Iowa cornerback Desmond King and Wisconsin outside linebacker Joe Schobert earned co-defensive players honor.

King picked off a pair of passes, one of which set up Iowa's lone TD, had nine tackles and two pass breakups. He also had three kick returns for 65 yards. It was the junior's second multi-interception game this season, pushing his conference-leading season total to five.

Schobert pretty much wrecked Iowa's second half. He had eight tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He also added five quarterback hurries for the Badgers, who rank fourth nationally in scoring defense, allowing 9.6 points per game. Schobert leads the nation in sacks, tackles for loss and forced fumbles.

The quarterback play in this game was under siege from the opening kick. In addition to all of the disruption, Beathard threw an interception (and had another called back after a UW penalty) and lost a fumble. Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave threw the two interceptions, fumbled twice and was sacked twice.

'Stopping their run and making them pass more,' King said about what Iowa wanted to do with the Badgers, who were held to less than 100 rushing yards for the second time this season. 'That's not their game, that's not their gameplan. We wanted to make them pass and we created some turnovers doing that.'

Both QBs hid their frustrations well, but who wouldn't have been frustrated?

'We got our D-ends getting to him,' King said. 'We put pressure on him, made sacks, stuff like that. We were getting to him, banging him up a little bit. They were getting in the way and he was throwing bad balls out there.'

King's first interception, and 15-yard return, led to the only touchdown in the game as Iowa took a 7-3 advantage. King's second interception was at the Iowa 11-yard line and stopped Wisconsin's opening drive of the second half.

King's first interceptionJ. Stave pass intercepted,D. King return for 15 yds - ESPN Video

It marks the second time in five games (Pittsburgh) that King has recorded two interceptions. He is the first Hawkeye with multiple multi-interception games in a season since Tyler Sash in 2009.

'For us to get better, I always talk about our best guys and most experienced guys playing their best football, and he's a great illustration of that,' Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. 'He played solid last year (three interceptions, 64 tackles), but he's clearly playing at a little bit of a different level right now. He's been opportunistic out there with the picks and he's doing a good job in the return game. He's playing hard in coverage and, for the most part, doing a good job on the perimeter runs.'

This is King's second player of the week award. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound junior from Detroit, Mich., was Big Ten freshman of the week on Oct. 21, 2013, after recording 12 tackles in a 34-24 loss at No. 3 Ohio State. King is the third Hawkeye to earn the honor this season, joining Beathard (offensive award following Iowa's win at Iowa State) and kicker Marshall Koehn (special teams winner following Iowa's last-second victory over Pittsburgh).

King leads the Big Ten in both interceptions (five) and passes defended (nine). His five interceptions are the most for a Hawkeye since Brett Greenwood had five in 2010. He also ranks second in the Big Ten in kickoff returns (22.5) and is averaging 18.7 yards on seven punt returns. He is fifth on the team with 29 tackles.

King's second interceptionJ. Stave pass intercepted,D. King return for 0 yds - ESPN Video

In a football game that was reduced to a game of one-upsmanship between two of the conference's best defenders, you could probably say statements were made.

'I guess it's a message, kind of send a message to the Big Ten and let them know the bullies of the Big Ten are back,' King said.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com