Every week, we will post the TV schedule for all games featuring Big Ten teams. Here is where and when you can watch them this week:
Nov. 9:
Penn State at Minnesota, 11 a.m., ESPN2
Iowa at Purdue, 11 a.m., BTN
Illinois at Indiana, 2:30 p.m., BTN
Nebraska at Michigan, 2:30 p.m., ABC
BYU at No. 21 Wisconsin, 2:30 p.m., ESPN
*All times listed are Central Standard Time.
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
Check out all of these links to content posted on Saturday after Iowa’s 28-9 loss to No. 22 Wisconsin at Kinnick Stadium. Please note, anything with “premium” in parentheses are links that can only be accessed by those logged in as either a paid subscriber or three-day free trial member to HawkeyeDrive.com:
RECAP: Badgers feast off Hawkeye blunders
COMMENTARY: When it is what it is (premium)
VIDEO:
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — On the surface, the Iowa Hawkeyes and No. 22 Wisconsin Badgers would appear to be mirror images. Both teams pride themselves on playing smart, physical football. Meeting Saturday afternoon at Kinnick Stadium, these teams appear as though they match up with one another pound for pound like a prize fight.
But if Saturday’s game were like a prize fight, Iowa was that fighter who had opportunity to deliver body blows and only connected on jabs. Wisconsin was that fighter that took its punches, hung around long enough and come the later rounds, delivered the knockout.
The Hawkeyes had their chances, but couldn’t capitalize. When the Badgers had their chances, they did and left Kinnick Stadium maintaining possession of the Heartland Trophy after defeating Iowa 28-9. While Wisconsin looks like a team poised to make a run at a possible BCS at-large spot, the Hawkeyes find themselves all but mathematically eliminated in the Legends Division race sitting at 2-3 in Big Ten play and entering the final quarter of their 2013 season at 5-4 overall, still needing one more win to become bowl-eligible.
“They just outplayed us,” junior left tackle Brandon Scherff said.
The first quarter was tailor-made for Iowa in a litany of ways — from winning the coin toss and being able to play with the wind at its back, to forcing 3-and-outs on defense and getting incredibly good field position on offense. It was ripe for the taking, but all Iowa could get out of it was a 3-0 lead on a 28-yard field goal from senior kicker Mike Meyer, one of three he made.
Just before halftime, Iowa was up 6-0 when the first big play came from Wisconsin’s offense. Given plenty of time in the pocket, quarterback Joel Stave connected downfield to a wide open Jacob Pedersen for a 44-yard strike that gave the Badgers a 7-6 lead that almost became 10-6 at halftime, but wasn’t because of a missed 54-yard field goal at the end of the half.
“We were man-to-man backside with our backside corner,” senior free safety Tanner Miller said. “The quarterback was looking frontside the whole time and he had some time back there. We may have gotten lackadaisical for a split second there, but give the credit to him. He found him.”
It remained 7-6 midway through the third quarter when the game’s turning point unfolded. Facing 1st-and-10 from its own 1-yard line, Iowa ran a play-action pass. Just as quarterback Jake Rudock was getting hit in the end zone, he tossed one of his worst throws as a starting quarterback, a ball that was intercepted by Darius Hillary and set up the Badgers at Iowa’s 20-yard line.
On the very next play, Stave threw his second touchdown pass of a game to a wide open Jared Abbrederis to extend Wisconsin’s lead to 14-6.
“It was a communication call right there,” senior cornerback B.J. Lowery said. “We were in different coverage on both sides and the guy just got open.”
Rudock’s interception would be his last play of the afternoon, as he left the game with what head coach Kirk Ferentz called a knee sprain and was replaced by redshirt freshman signal-caller C.J. Beathard for the remainder of the contest. Ferentz said Rudock could have returned, but didn’t think it’d be wise to put him back in.
When he departed, Rudock was 12-of-24 passing for 109 yards. Beathard didn’t fare much better through the air, completing just 4-of-16 pass attempts for 70 yards.
“We’re not in a desperation mode, but it’s a pretty uphill climb at that point and playing against an excellent defensive football team,” Ferentz said about going with Beathard the rest of the way. “It’s a tough way to go.”
Iowa’s offense continued to struggle in the second half when an unlikely bounce turned into an unfortunate break. A Beathard pass intended for senior tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz hit junior offensive lineman Andrew Donnal — who played from the second quarter on at right guard following an injury to starter Jordan Walsh — in the back of the helmet. The ball then proceeded to go directly up in the air and land in the hands of Badger defensive end Pat Muldoon at the Hawkeyes’ 25-yard line.
“I was just looking for it. I was hoping it’d be on the ground, but it wasn’t,” Donnal said. “It was in the air and I was just looking to bat it down.”
Wisconsin would deliver the fatal blow on its ensuing possession, as running back James White scored the first of two fourth-quarter touchdowns from 11 yards out to move the Badgers ahead 21-9 with 6:29 remaining.
If there is a silver lining for Iowa now, it’s that the Hawkeyes will have a very real shot at reaching bowl eligibility Nov. 9 when they meet Purdue at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. The Boilermakers are currently 1-7 and have lost six straight games, including a 56-0 loss at home to No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday. Kickoff for next week’s game is set for 11 a.m. Central and will be televised nationally on the Big Ten Network.
“We just got to go out and be prepared to play the full 60,” junior strong safety John Lowdermilk said following an 11-tackle performance.
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Wisconsin might not be the best team Iowa has played or will play in 2013, but one could argue it’s the most complete team the Hawkeyes have faced or will face.
Sure, the 22nd-ranked Badgers might not have the best offense in the Big Ten (that would be probably be Ohio State) or the best defense in the Big Ten (that would definitely be Michigan State). But they’re just good enough in both areas that when they needed plays on Saturday, they got them and as a result, were able to leave Kinnick Stadium with a 28-9 win over Iowa.
Yes, the Hawkeyes had their chances in this game. In the first quarter, Iowa’s defense forced 3-and-outs and the offense had prime field position for its first four possessions. Except the Hawkeyes only came away with three points. As the game progressed, Wisconsin forced turnovers and found ways to capitalize off those Iowa miscues and come away with touchdowns.
Simply put, this was one of those games where that saying “It is what it is” comes into play. The Badgers were 9.5-point favorites entering this border war and played like a ranked team priming itself for a possible BCS at-large spot should it not find itself playing for a fourth straight Big Ten crown.
The only aspect of this game that might have been a surprise was Iowa’s defense being able to bottle up Wisconsin’s ground game as much as it did in the first half. Melvin Gordon came in as the nation’s leading rusher, yet only had 62 yards rushing on 17 carries and zero touchdowns. In the first half specifically, Gordon only had 18 yards rushing on six carries.
Iowa’s offense struggling as it did wasn’t shocking. Maybe the passing game being as ugly as it looked was shocking, but there was enough evidence coming in to suggest the Badgers’ 3-4 scheme would present issues to the Hawkeyes. The only other time Iowa saw a 3-4 look was when it played Missouri State, which might not seem like a big deal until you factor in how the Hawkeyes only led 7-0 at halftime of that particular game.
There were opportunities there for Iowa on this day. Mark Weisman didn’t have the durability to finish the game out after suffering an elbow injury, but at least initially, he looked like he might have a solid game with Wisconsin missing its best defensive player in linebacker Chris Borland due to a hamstring injury. The Hawkeyes also got contributions across the board from their receiving corps, which is something that could be beneficial entering the remainder of their season.
Defensively, Iowa was as well-prepared as one could’ve asked it to be. The entire first quarter, Wisconsin did nothing offensively. But also during that first quarter, right tackle Blake Haverstein was tipping off whether the Badgers were running or throwing the football by the way he was lined up on the offensive line. When he was in a 3-point stance (which most O-linemen are the majority of the time), it was a run. When he was in a 2-point stance (neither hand on the ground), it was a pass.
On the Badgers’ first series of the second quarter, this giveaway was adjusted and Wisconsin began to move the ball at a much better rate. And while the Hawkeyes couldn’t capitalize on the one mistake Badger quarterback Joel Stave made on the first series of the game, Wisconsin converted two second-half interceptions (one from Jake Rudock, the other from C.J. Beathard) into touchdowns to further separate itself from Iowa.
This game ultimately came down to the Hawkeyes’ inability to move the football when they really needed to because one had to figure the Badgers would get 2-3 big plays on offense. Just about every team Iowa has played this season has scored on big plays and that’s still an ongoing issue that probably won’t be rectified at all in 2013.
Wisconsin was going to win this game. It was the better team coming in and proved it’s still the better team. The Badgers had just enough of everything necessary to not only beat Iowa, but beat it by more than any of those three teams it lost to that were a combined 23-1 entering Saturday.
The writing was on the wall and in this particular case, “it is what it is.”
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa junior strong safety John Lowdermilk finished with 11 tackles in the Hawkeyes’ 28-9 loss to No. 22 Wisconsin on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa senior linebacker Christian Kirksey compiled 11 tackles and was credited with two quarterback hurries in the Hawkeyes’ 28-9 loss to No. 22 Wisconsin on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa senior cornerback B.J. Lowery finished with six tackles, two pass break ups and forced a fumble in the Hawkeyes’ 28-9 loss to No. 22 Wisconsin on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa senior linebacker James Morris recorded a team-high 12 tackles and also had a sack in the Hawkeyes’ 28-9 loss to No. 22 Wisconsin on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa senior free safety Tanner Miller recorded four tackles and had a first-quarter interception in the Hawkeyes’ 28-9 loss to No. 22 Wisconsin on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa junior offensive lineman Andrew Donnal filled in for an injured Jordan Walsh at right guard in the second quarter and played the remainder of the Hawkeyes’ 28-9 loss to No. 22 Wisconsin on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium. Iowa compiled 294 yards of total offense in defeat.