Iowa football runs to front of Big Ten West with win over Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. — Iowa football seems to be running, albeit with a limp, closer to Indianapolis.

The keyword in that sentence is “running.“

The Hawkeyes picked up 200 rushing yards en route to a 15-6 win over Wisconsin (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) that gives Iowa (6-1, 3-1) an early edge in the race for the Big Ten West title.

The Badgers had a chance to take the lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, but what could have been game-winning drive ended with a Braedyn Locke fumble. Aaron Graves forced the fumble, and Jay Higgins recovered it.

Wisconsin never had the lead — a result of Iowa’s as-usual stout defensive performance and its success running the ball.

After a few empty drives in the first quarter, Iowa’s Leshon Williams sprinted to an 82-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter as he gave the Hawkeyes a 7-0 lead. It was Iowa’s longest play of the season and longest rushing touchdown of the Kirk Ferentz era.

The offensive line created a big enough hole on the big play that Williams told reporters afterward that “one of y’all could’ve run through it.”

Williams made the big play despite Williams’ stutter-step that “made it a lot harder than what it was.”

“My coach is going to be very mad at me when we watch it on film,” Williams said.

Iowa padded its lead in the fourth quarter with a 48-yard Drew Stevens field goal and a safety forced by a Yahya Black sack in the end zone. Stevens hit another 40-yard field goal with 1:55 remaining to remove any doubt.

Williams finished the day with a team-high 174 yards on 25 carries. It worked out to be 7 yards per attempt — a number heavily swayed by the 82-yard touchdown run.

Kaleb Johnson, in his second game back from an ankle injury, had 35 yards on 17 carries.

Iowa was heavily dependent on running the ball, with only 14 passing attempts on 62 offensive plays.

“Certainly if we rush the ball better, it’s going to give us a better chance to be successful,“ Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said.

Ferentz, like Williams, attributed much of the success on the ground to an improved offensive line.

“Our line is gaining ground the last couple of weeks,” Ferentz said. “Today, they played with a lot of toughness and a lot of confidence. I think they’re improving.”

Punter Tory Taylor showed why he earned preseason All-America honors this year, averaging 50.6 yards on his 10 punts.

The Hawkeyes won again despite presenting hardly any threat in the passing game. Quarterback Deacon Hill went 6-for-14 for 37 yards in his second career start.

Tight end Erick All exited the game in the first quarter with what appeared to be an injury to his right leg and did not return. The Hawkeyes, who already were without Luke Lachey and Addison Ostrenga, were playing without their top three tight ends.

Defensively, Iowa held Wisconsin’s quarterbacks — Tanner Mordecai in the first half and then Braedyn Locke after Mordecai’s hand injury — to 27-of-50 passing for 228 yards and a Sebastian Castro interception in the final minute.

Castro’s interception doubled as a birthday gift for the safety, who turned 23 on Saturday.

“I can’t ask for more on the birthday,” Castro said. “I think I had a pretty good day today.”

Wisconsin star running back Braelon Allen had 87 rushing yards on 18 carries.

Black’s fourth-quarter sack marked the second consecutive year in which Iowa’s defense had multiple safeties in a season. The other safety came on an Anterio Thompson blocked punt against Western Michigan.

Saturday’s win far from clinches anything in the Big Ten West, but it sets up the Hawkeyes nicely with five games to go.

The Hawkeyes have a half-game lead in the division — a lead that is likely to grow to one game after Wisconsin plays No. 3 Ohio State at the end of the month — and own the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Badgers.

Therefore, Iowa would theoretically need to lose at least two of its last five games for Wisconsin to have a shot at retaking the Big Ten West lead.

As much as Iowa’s Big Ten West positioning has improved with Saturday’s result, Iowa can ill-afford to overlook its next five games.

“We knew that this game meant a lot,” Higgins said. “It doesn’t mean anything if we just start going downhill from here, so we understand that every game is just as important as the next one or the last one.”

That starts with next Saturday’s game against Minnesota.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com