It was ugly. But after it's all said and done, it was a victory in the conference opener on the road. The Hawkeyes walked into Madison and beat the number 19 ranked Wisconsin Badgers, 10-6 for the Heartland Trophy. It was the first time the Hawkeyes won the trophy since 2009.
The scoring started on the Badgers first drive, with a Rafael Gaglianone 46 yard field goal. The scoring stalled until the end on the second quarter. George Little caught a one yard touchdown pass from quarterback C.J Beathard for the only touchdown of the game after a Desmond King interception Then soon after, Marshall Koehn added a 33 yard field goal off of a Drew Ott forced fumble.
The Hawkeyes defense stepped up big time in the second half. The Badgers had the ball inside the Hawkeyes 34 in six possessions, all they got was a field goal. One key play was halfway through the fourth when the Badgers had second and goal from the one after recovering a Beathard fumble inside deep in Hawkeye territory. Nate Meier pushed a lineman back, who then stepped on Joel Stave's foot, and fumbled it and was recovered by the Hawkeyes.
Then on a 4th and two in the red zone with under a minute left, Stave over led his man, and it was over.
Iowa is now 5-0 for the first time since the Orange Bowl run in 2009, and are 1-0 in the Big Ten. They are now ranked for the first time since 2010 at no. 22, and the West looks wide open.
A concern for the Hawkeyes is their offense. Beathard completed nine passes for 77 yards, and all ten points were scored on a short field. But, the good news is that the Hawkeyes will soon get back Boone Myers should be back soon, maybe next week and should get receiver Tevaun Smith back after the bye.
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