Hlas: Hawkeyes’ West quest starts in lions’ den

Saturday is a bright red opportunity for Iowa football.

To say the winner of the Iowa-Wisconsin game in Madison will be in the driver's seat in the Big Ten West Division obviously is ludicrous. Especially since, you know, seven more games will remain afterward.

But … have you looked at the West closely?

Nebraska is a jittery 2-2 team. The Huskers hung on for a 36-28 win over lightly regarded Southern Mississippi Saturday after allowing 447 passing yards.

Minnesota is 3-1, but is coming off two straight 3-point home victories over Mid-American Conference teams.

Northwestern is 4-0 and has the best resume in the entire league, with wins over Stanford and Duke that were defensive tours de force

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But the Wildcats suffered a slew of injuries Saturday night in their 24-19 win over Ball State. Safety Godwin Igwebuike and defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo, both excellent players, left the game with apparent serious injuries.

So - I'm not a coach, so I can say this - the winner of the Iowa-Wisconsin game will be in better shape to go after the West title than anyone else. Because neither of the two play Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan or Penn State.

Nebraska faces Michigan State in Lincoln. Northwestern goes to Michigan and has Penn State at home. Offense-challenged Minnesota hosts Michigan the week before it goes to Ohio State, which is the week before it visits Iowa.

The East opponents for Iowa are Indiana and Maryland. The East opponents for Wisconsin are Rutgers and Maryland. If you were a West team picking your two East foes, they would come from Indiana, Maryland and Rutgers.

Indiana is 4-0 for the first time since 1990, but rejoins reality Saturday when it starts league play against Ohio State.

All of which, in a roundabout way, means Iowa-Wisconsin is a big game.

The Badgers have held their last three opponents to a total of three points. Sure, the opponents were Miami (Ohio), Troy and Hawaii, but good defense is good defense.

However, Wisconsin doesn't have the offensive punch it had last year when running back Melvin Gordon was doing sensational things. Corey Clement had 949 rushing yards backing up Gordon last year, but he's out of commission with a sports hernia.

Taiwan Deal and Dare Ogunbowale did combine for 41 carries and 232 yards Saturday against Hawaii, so it isn't as if the Badgers have stopped doing what they always do. Which is hand the ball off to any healthy back for six yards per carry.

Of course, those six yards should be harder to amass against the Hawkeyes then the likes of Troy and Hawaii. The Badgers' offensive line is inexperienced and not the caliber of the one that overwhelmed the West last year.

No defense has stymied the Hawkeyes to date, but they haven't met a defense resembling Wisconsin's.

Will Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard, as good a playmaker as anyone in the Big Ten in September, outperform Wisconsin's Joel Stave? It doesn't seem the Badgers' senior does anything with flair, but he is efficient and elusive, and he wins.

The Hawkeyes wanted to take a 4-0 record to Madison and see what happens from there. Getting to 5-0 would be huge. It will be hard to win the West without doing so.