A rivalry will be reborn this Saturday when the Iowa Hawkeyes host the Wisconsin Badgers for their first meeting since 2010.
Both teams have played their best football of late and pride isn’t the only thing on the line as Iowa will also try to reclaim the Heartland Trophy (pictured above).
Since the Heartland Trophy debuted in 2004, Wisconsin is 12-4 in trophy games.
Iowa Hawkeyes (5-3, 2-2) Analysis: Iowa isn’t a great team and they’re also not a bad team. All three of their losses (Northern Illinois, Michigan State and Ohio State who are a combined 23-1) have come by 10 points or less. The Hawkeyes pulled out a tough 17-10 overtime win versus Northwestern last week.
The face of this year’s Hawkeyes offense is running back Mark Weisman who is averaging 91.5 yards per game. He’s had moderate success, but Iowa’s big problem in 2013 has been scoring points (27.1 points per game which is near last in the Big Ten). Quarterback Jake Rudock will have to find his receivers this week in order to beat the Badgers.
A lot of Big Ten teams rely heavily on their defense and the Hawkeyes are no different. This squad has only given up 30+ points twice this season and that was against high-powered offenses (Northern Illinois and Ohio State). They hang their hat on the best pass defense in the Big Ten and a solid rush defense which doesn’t lag far behind (fifth in Big Ten). Linebacker Anthony Hitchens is averaging 9.9 tackles per game and will have a daunting task against the Badgers top ranked running game.
Wisconsin Badgers (5-2, 3-1) Analysis: The Badgers are one of the hottest teams in the country and according to ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, the most underrated. After shooting themselves in the foot at Ohio State, the Badgers have rolled off a couple of victories against Northwestern and Illinois by an impressive margin of 91-38.
To some it may seem like a broken record, but not enough can be said about running back Melvin Gordon. He leads the Big Ten in rushing and is fourth nationally at 144.6 yards per game. It’s not just Gordon though as the Wisconsin offense ranks 11th nationally in total offense at an eye-popping 513.6 yards per game. The Badgers have been held under 400 yards just once this year and that was 399 yards at Ohio State.
Coach Gary Andersen said he expects star linebacker Chris Borland to play this weekend. That’s huge because Borland is the leader of a defense which ranks sixth nationally in both scoring defense (15.9 points per game) and total defense (285.0 yards per game). The Hawkeyes are a run-heavy team, so expect the senior standout to have a good shot at recording his 16th career double-digit tackle game.
Brutally Honest Prediction: Wisconsin 28 Iowa 21
Iowa’s defense is the real deal, so this will be the Badgers first opportunity to flex its muscles and prove that its offense is indeed one of the best in the country. The game will be closer than advertised and I expect Borland to be the difference. Borland will have flashbacks to 2009 when he recorded 10 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble against Iowa on his way to being named the Big Ten’s Freshman of the Year.
TV Coverage: ABC/ESPN2 11:00 AM CT; Sean McDonough (play-by-play), Chris Spielman (analyst) and Shannon Spake (sidelines)
Betting Lines: Wisconsin favored by 9.5 points and the over/under set at 50 points.
2013 Record straight up: 6-1
2013 Record against the spread: 4-3
2013 Record in over/under: 3-3
*no over/under for Tennessee Tech game
Last week redux: Picked Badgers to win 30-16 over Illinois (they actually won 56-32). Hit on straight up and spread (-10), but not over/under (57).
Do you think the Badgers can continue to roll or will they have trouble at Kinnick Stadium? Let me know by commenting below.
Nick Grays is a senior writer at the Sports Bank where he covers the Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers. He also enjoys sharing Fantasy Advice and pretends to be a Golf expert from time-to-time. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here or visit his blog Nick Knows Best. If social media is not your thing, shoot him an email at grays@uwalumni.com.
*Pictures obtained from espn.com and qctimes.com