Leistikow's 5 thoughts off Iowa's 15-6 win at Wisconsin: 'We wanted to take the heart out of them'
MADISON, Wis. − From the first possession of Saturday's game, Iowa’s plan to beat Wisconsin was crystal clear.
Run the ball. A lot. Don’t let Deacon Hill make mistakes. And put the game on the shoulders of Phil Parker’s defense and the right leg of punter Tory Taylor.
The strategy unfolded to ugly perfection for the imperfect Hawkeyes, who defeated the Badgers, 15-6, to secure their first win at Camp Randall Stadium since 2015 and, almost unbelievably, take control of the Big Ten West.
This was similar to that 2015 game, in which Iowa threw for 77 yards but did enough on the ground to eke out the points it needed for a 10-6 win. Drew Ott famously said after that game the defense knew if Wisconsin didn’t score, it couldn’t win. This Iowa defense seemed to take that same approach.
“A defense’s dream," said Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins, who led the team with 13 tackles. "We went out there and competed the whole game.”
More: Iowa football takes control of Big Ten West with physical win over Wisconsin
In this one, Leshon Williams carried the Hawkeyes on offense. His 82-yard touchdown run in the second quarter stunned the stadium and put the visitors in control of a game they were expected to lose as 10-point underdogs. Williams finished the day with 174 rushing yards on 25 hard-charging carries.
“We wanted to take the heart out of them, and that’s what we did today," Williams said. "You saw the run game was working, so why go away from it?”
In his return to Camp Randall, Wisconsin transfer Hill completed 6-of-14 passes for 37 yards. But he didn’t commit any turnovers, although a few of his deflected passes were dangerously close to being intercepted.
The defense was stellar for the Hawkeyes, seeming to thrive on having the game hinge on its side of the ball. Kirk Ferentz refused to call pass plays for nearly the entire second half. Hill tried only four passes in the third quarter, none in the fourth.
Taylor was incredible. His booming punts captivated the crowd of 76,205. With Iowa clinging to a 7-6 lead in the third quarter and the Iowa offense laboring with six straight three-and-outs, Taylor launched a 60-yard punt that was muffed by Chimere Dike and recovered by Wisconsin at its own 6-yard line. That proved to be a huge moment in helping Iowa get its banged-up, ineffective offense to the finish line.
More: Five numbers that told the story of Iowa football's grueling win over Wisconsin
Finally, Iowa got a short field off the punt exchange and converted it into points. A 48-yard Drew Stevens field goal sailed through the uprights with 13:08 to play, and the Hawkeyes now had to allow a touchdown to lose this one.
On Wisconsin’s ensuing drive, bad field position forced a third-and-long and turned into a safety with 12:15 left when Yahya Black and Sebastian Castro crunched backup quarterback Braedyn Locke, who fumbled. But a Wisconsin lineman pounced on the loose pigskin for two Iowa points instead of seven. That certainly created a nervous finish.
But two Wisconsin drives later, Aaron Graves' jarring hit of Locke popped the football loose with 3:01 to go. Higgins pounced on the ball at Wisconsin's 39-yard line. That set up Stevens' second field goal of the fourth quarter, a 40-yarder that effectively put the outcome in the win column for the Hawkeyes with 1:55 to go.
The Hawkeyes called a running play on nine of their first 10 plays. They finished with exactly 200 yards on the ground.
“We didn’t want to be reckless or careless," Ferentz said. "We thought with the way things were going, we felt like the way we played was pretty smart. If you lose, it’s not so smart. But you kind of go with the feel of the game.”
Ferentz's instincts proved correct. His team left with a 6-1 overall mark, 3-1 in Big Ten play with another rivalry game on deck: 2:30 p.m. Saturday vs. Minnesota at Kinnick Stadium.
“It doesn’t mean anything if we start going downhill from here," Higgins said. "Every game is as important as the last one.”
Taylor punted 10 times for 506 yards, a 50.6 average. He was maybe the MVP of the game for Iowa, but Williams on offense and Castro on defense (his interception with 38 seconds left clinched it) were right there, playing great in a hostile environment. How cool was that? Williams and Castro (who turned 23 on Saturday) both attended Richards High School in Chicago.
Wisconsin (4-2, 2-1) next travels to Illinois, then hosts No. 3 Ohio State. Assuming the Badgers lose at least one more game, Iowa would need to win four of its final five games to secure the Big Ten West title.
What a special moment this was for Hill.
Don't worry about the statistics in this one. He did what was needed to get out of the way and let the defense cook.
After the game, special assistant Jon Budmayr came down from the press box and embraced Hill. Budmayr played for the Badgers, was the quarterbacks coach for the Badgers and is now a special assistant to Ferentz at Iowa. He recruited Hill to Wisconsin. Now, they're on the winning side together against the Badgers.
“I didn’t expect him to be down from the box that fast. He was the first one to give me a hug," Hill said. "He was like, ‘We did it. Let’s just keep moving this thing forward. We have a lot of season left.'”
Meet the “Air Raid” Badgers
Wisconsin called a pass play on 14 of its first 17 snaps of the game, certainly signifying a new era for the “Air Raid” Badgers in this matchup. That seemed odd, considering the Badgers came into Saturday as the rushing leaders in the Big Ten and with tremendous running back Braelon Allen on their side.
Wisconsin was content on a day with high winds (17 mph at kickoff) to put the game on Tanner Mordecai’s right arm. Mordecai completed 12 of 20 passes for 106 yards and scrambled four times for eight yards before leaving the game late in the first half with an injury. He did not return. The Badgers offense was booed by its fans as the woes continued on offense. Wisconsin had eight first-half drives and no points.
Maybe the Mordecai injury was a brief blessing for the Badgers, who were forced to turn to backup quarterback Braedyn Locke … and a heavier dose of Allen. On their first drive of the second half, Allen rushed four times for 16 yards and caught a shovel pass for 12 yards on third-and-4. That, plus a questionable roughing-the-passer flag on Ethan Hurkett led to a 36-yard field goal by Nathanial Vakos.
Allen really got moving on the next Wisconsin drive, motoring for runs of 18 and 12 yards on back-to-back plays to set up a 52-yard field goal by Vakos and slice the lead to 7-6 with 3:58 left in the third quarter. But the Iowa defense controlled things after that. Allen finished with 87 yards on 18 carries, but only 15 yards on his final six attempts.
Wisconsin rushed for just five yards in the fourth quarter; Iowa rushed for 44.
“To me, the key as the game went on was trying to keep (Allen) under control, because he's a really good football player," Ferentz said.
Higgins noted that fellow linebacker Nick Jackson, a Virginia transfer, had familiarity with Wisconsin offensive coordinator Phil Longo from his time at North Carolina. Iowa's defense certainly looked dialed in.
Wisconsin passers finished 27-for-50 for 228 yards with two turnovers.
And once again, the ground game still reigns supreme in the battle for the Heartland Trophy. Asked about the old approach beating the new approach, Ferentz uncorked a gem of an answer, even referencing Iowa's 12-10 win against Michigan in 1985, a No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle between Iowa's Chuck Long and Michigan's Jim Harbaugh that came down to special teams and defense.
“You’ve got to play defense. It starts there," Ferentz said. "You can’t be sloppy with the football, and we didn’t do that today. If you play good in the kicking game and run the ball successfully, that gives you a shot. Those are basics, they’ve been that way for 100 years.
"Typically if you look at big games, that’s still what it gets down to. … That’s kind of been my experience. I’m thinking about 1985 vs. Michigan. That’s just kind of the way football is when you get two good teams together.”
Third down and … finally!
The woeful third-down percentage for the Hawkeyes this year (27% for the season coming in, even worse at 17% in Big Ten play) was something to watch. And on third-and-2 from their own 18-yard line in the second quarter, Iowa converted one … in a big way.
The straight-ahead handoff to Leshon Williams looked simple enough, but what made the run explode was the stutter-step in the hole. Williams’ hesitation seemed to throw off the Wisconsin timing on defense. That also gave fullback Hayden Large time to crunch inside linebacker Jordan Turner and turn him outside, giving Williams a wall to his right side. Williams showed quick acceleration to burst through the opening, then suddenly he was surrounded by green turf.
Safety Austin Brown had an angle on Williams, who veered to the right-side boundary. But Williams’ sturdy stiff-arm knocked Brown to the ground, and he was in the clear. Cornerback Ricardo Hallman tried to track down Williams, but the 5-foot-10, 208-pound junior finished the run by curling into the end zone while keeping his feet for an 82-yard touchdown with 11:49 left in the first half. Stevens’ PAT gave Iowa a 7-0 lead, and at that point were 4-for-7 on third downs.
Williams said it was a point of emphasis from offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz that the backs stay patient for holes being created from the offensive line.
“Brian sat down with us and felt we left a lot of yards on the field getting too fast (to the ball) and missing a couple cuts," Williams said. "So today, our goal was to be patient. We’ve got to let the guys up front work.”
Williams had great things to say about an offensive line that struggled mightily at Penn State in Week 4 then again in run blocking in a Week 5 home win against Michigan State. The run blocking looked better vs. Purdue and even better Saturday.
“They’re doing a hell of a job. Every week, they’re getting better," Williams said. "Them boys work hard. Today was a big challenge for them, and they lived up to the challenge. They imposed their will. They were the underdogs, we were the underdogs. All the hard work they did showed and we imposed our will."
This was the most rushing yards Iowa has had against Wisconsin since 2008, when Shonn Greene ran wild against the Badgers for four touchdowns. And get this: Iowa even won the time-of-possession battle, holding the ball for 30:33 vs. Wisconsin's 29:27.
Erick All the latest key Hawkeye to get hurt
During a stoppage late in the first quarter, injured Hawkeye co-captains Cade McNamara and Luke Lachey popped their heads into the Iowa injury tent. That was symbolic, considering they are arguably Iowa’s two most valuable offensive players who are both out of the season … and checking on the next-best offensive player, tight end Erick All, who had been the latest to enter the tent.
All suffered a right knee injury while making a 5-yard catch at the 4:27 mark of the first quarter. The Michigan transfer is Iowa’s leading receiver and had five of Iowa’s six catches the week prior vs. Purdue for 97 yards. All left the tent on crutches and did not return.
An already beaten-down offense has now lost another crucial player. Additionally, No. 3 tight end Addison Ostrenga missed the game with an injury. So, the Hawkeyes were down to their Nos. 4-6 tight ends the rest of the way: Steve Stilianos, walk-on Johnny Pascuzzi and true freshman Zach Ortwerth.
Without All, Iowa still relied on its tight ends as blockers. On a fourth-and-3 from the Wisconsin 32, Ortwerth wound up being the lead blocker on an end-around to Nico Ragaini. Ortwerth could not sustain the block and Ragaini was taken down for a 5-yard loss. But on Williams’ 82-yard touchdown run, Pascuzzi had one of the key seal blocks.
Ferentz said it didn't look good for All's long-term prognosis but would know more on Monday or Tuesday.
Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has covered sports for 29 years with The Des Moines Register and Paste BN Sports Network. Join Chad's text-message group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on Twitter.