Badger Blowout: Takeaways as Iowa steamrolls Wisconsin 37-0

The Iowa Hawkeyes were the favorite heading into Wisconsin, but I am not sure many expected the 37-0 onslaught to be the case in their blowout win over the Badgers.

From the jump, Iowa came at the Badgers from every angle and didn’t give them a chance to think that they were in the game. Early turnovers, quick scores in response, and a complete performance from offense, defense, and special teams had this game over before halftime hit.

Iowa, which has moved to 4-2 overall with a 2-1 mark in Big Ten play, looks like a much more confident team and is proving that the could be a dangerous team down the stretch. This game flashed a classic Iowa domination and gave us a few takeaways to dig into.

Iowa’s ground game is feeling it

On a night where QB Mark Gronowski was not his usual self and less than 100%, the running game shouldered the load and ran away with this game. Iowa was content churning yards out on the ground with 36 rushing attempts for 210 yards, an average of 5.8 yards per carry.

While Kamari Moulton was the star on offense, going for 96 yards and a score on 15 carries, his backfield partners, Xavier Williams and Nathan McNeil, also flashed. Williams gave Iowa 55 yards and two touchdowns on just seven carries, while McNeil added in 40 more yards on nine carries.

Iowa’s running backs and offensive line were utterly dominant in this one and gave us a vintage, physical, tough Iowa offensive attack.

Iowa’s defense rekindled turnover magic

What a performance from the Iowa defense! The Hawkeyes were lights out on defense in this matchup and had Wisconsin in a chokehold from the very first drive of the game.

Iowa held Wisconsin to 209 total yards on the day in a completely dominant performance. They allowed 82 passing yards on an 8-21 performance, showcasing the coverage in the back end paired with a pass rush. On the ground, they held Wisconsin to an honest 3.5 yards per carry.

The best part of this unit’s performance was the turnovers they created. The highlights of the night came from the defensive line reeling in interceptions courtesy of Bryce Hawthorne and Aaron Graves, which set Iowa up for easy scores to blow this game open early. Add in a fumble that Zach Lutmer recovered in the second quarter, and Iowa was up three scores before Wisconsin fans and students found their seats.

Mark Gronowski still has some recovery to do

Mark Gronowski looked just fine against Wisconsin, and that is okay. With the ground game and defensive performance, he didn’t have to do too much more than turn around and hand the ball off or complete a few easy passes for first downs.

That said, he was not at 100% against Wisconsin. There was a hesitancy or reluctance to tuck the ball and run it or take as much contact as he had in other games. He was protected in this game by how things played out and the play-calling by Tim Lester, but he has some recovery yet to do before he is back to 100%/

Drew Stevens returned to form

After a bit of a rocky stretch that had some fans and others worried about the usually steady Iowa special teams due to missed kicks, those thoughts were alleviated against Wisconsin with an excellent comeback performance by kicker Drew Stevens.

Stevens was perfect on the night. He was his usual automatic self on extra points, but his field goal attempts were the story. He was 3-3 on field goal attempts against Wisconsin with a long of 49 yards. This sort of performance is a confidence boost for Stevens, who has been a constant weapon for Iowa to put points on the board.

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