IOWA CITY - Add another game to the list of troubling, avoidable losses for Wisconsin this season.
Following a Purdue upset of Illinois that improbably opened the door for UW, the Badgers failed to muster any sort of offense to accompany a dominant defense in a road loss to Iowa.
The 24-10 defeat at the hands of the Hawkeyes put an end to any significant post-season hopes the team had.
BadgerBlitz.com offers key takeaways from the Badgers' road loss to the Hawkeyes.
Wisconsin squanders chance at division crown
Wisconsin could have controlled its own destiny the rest of the way in the Big Ten West. That could have added a sense of pride to what has been a tumultuous season with multiple bizarre losses and missteps along the way.
With the play of the defense in recent weeks, the path to a victory on Saturday was simple for Wisconsin: Just don’t shoot yourselves in the foot. Instead, the Badgers couldn’t stay out of its own way against the Hawkeyes
Through three quarters of play, Iowa’s lone points came off a blocked punt that set the offense up at the UW 17-yard line. The Hawkeyes found the end zone two plays later. The other score came off a throw that never should have been made. Graham Mertz's ball to Skyler Bell, who was running an out route, and was easily intercepted by Cooper DeJean, who could have walked in for a touchdown.
A chance at a division crown would have left a Wisconsin team that limped to the finish line all year atop a division filled with teams that continue to trip over themselves. Instead, the Badgers are fighting for bowl eligibility with two games left on the schedule.
Mertz and offense fail to hold up their end of the deal
Iowa’s offense is by no means an elite unit. They are far from it.
By most - if not all - measures, Wisconsin’s defense put together an all-time performance that should have been rewarded with a win.
Nick Herbig and company - aided by some questionable Iowa blocking - tallied six sacks and 11 tackles for loss. Herbig led the effort with a career-high three sacks to go with three tackles for loss and a forced fumble. He wasn’t alone. Seven different Wisconsin defenders notched a tackle for loss and four defenders recorded a sack.
Of Iowa’s 15 drives on offense, four started on UW’s side of the field. Of the 11 drives Iowa started on its side of the field, the offense crossed midfield just twice. The first time, the drive ended at UW's 49 yard line after Herbig forced a fumble that Darryl Peterson recovered. The second time Iowa started at its own 47-yard line to put the game away with a field goal to extend its lead to 14.
The three scoring drives for the Hawkeyes came on a pair of drives that started at the UW 17- and 18-yard line, along with an interception returned for a touchdown.
Accompanying that effort was an offense that totaled 230 yards of offense, turned it over three times, was penalized five times, averaged 1.9 yards a carry and completed 44 percent of its passes.
The 146 yards of offense for Iowa marked the first time Wisconsin held an opposing team to fewer than 200 yards in a loss since 2009.
About the third phase of the game...
Special teams continue to set back Wisconsin
Through this point of the season, special teams has been far from special. Or good, really. That said, the horrors from seasons' past haunted Wisconsin once again Saturday afternoon.
Iowa has traditionally had a stellar unit on that side of the ball, and that mismatch was glaring. The first score of the game was set up by a blocked punt that put Iowa's offense at the UW 17-yard line.
Sandwiched in between the first and third scores of the game included a punt, which Dean Engram let go by him and ultimately died at the one-yard line. The ensuing punt from Wisconsin was returned all the way back to the UW 18-yard line, which closed the door on the Badgers.
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