MADISON - In the third conference game of the season, the Wisconsin Badgers fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes, 15-6.

It was the first rivalry game of the season for Wisconsin, and the first-ever for many of the new faces. The Hawkeyes had never played against the new-look Badgers offense, but it didn't matter. They shut down Wisconsin in a game without much offense at all. Iowa made enough plays, particularly on special teams, to come out with a two-possession victory in an ugly Big Ten West rivalry game.

Here are my three biggest takeaways from today’s win.

Everyone knew a low-scoring game was likely, evident by the 33.5 point over/under, but this exceeded all expectations.

It’s easy to point to Tanner Mordecai’s injury as a reason for the offensive struggles, but the problems began far before that.

“Maybe they didn’t recognize how stout this defense really was, and how much they can limit you in a lot of the things that you do,” Luke Fickell said after the game. “You give them a lot of credit, they lost two first-round draft picks from last year’s defense, and I don’t know that they’ve taken much of a step backwards.”

The first drive was actually quite promising. They came out running tempo, as they usually do, and moved down the field with some rhythm and consistency.

On just the third play, Mordecai tested Cooper DeJean and completed a 42-yard deep ball to Bryson Green. It was one of the more impressive passing plays all season for Wisconsin.

The drive continued into the red zone, but ended with a failed fourth down attempt from Iowa’s 14. At least they showed aggression.

After that, the offense completely turned off.

Five of the next six drives were three-and-outs. There was even a stretch where Mordecai threw it six times in a row after Braelon Allen momentarily left the game. Wisconsin ended the first half with 141 total yards, including just 35 on the ground. The first drive went for 81 yards, then the next seven resulted in just 50 total yards. They went 0-for-8 on third down conversions in the first half, and 2-17 for the game.

Mordecai didn’t even leave until the very end of the first half.

They entered halftime down a touchdown and without their starting quarterback, then Tory Taylor stepped up. Wisconsin’s average starting field position in the second half was from the 13.

It’s hard to expect a quarterback playing the first real snaps of his career to step up in a rivalry game and lead drives down the entire field. I’ll give Braedyn Locke the benefit of the doubt, but Phil Longo coached his least inspiring game yet.

“He was thrown into a really tough situation,” Fickell said of Locke. “It’s not like we were moving the football. We didn’t have anything really established, whether it was the run game or making some plays on the outside. It was a battle, hardfought.”

Iowa’s defense dominated Wisconsin so thoroughly that it’s easy to forget that the Hawkeyes couldn’t do anything, either.

Perhaps the biggest individual storyline heading into Saturday surrounded the return of ex-Badger Deacon Hill, who unexpectedly became Iowa’s quarterback after Cade McNamara tore his ACL.

Hill ultimately won the game, but you could hardly tell he was there. His final statline consisted of just six completions for 37 yards. Mordecai passed for more yards on the one deep ball to Green than Hill did all day. Tight end Erick All went down on the Hawkeyes’ second drive and still finished as the team’s leading receiver.

However, the lack of a passing game ultimately didn’t matter, because Hill leaned on the run. Specifically, one run.

At the start of the second quarter, with little offense to speak of leading up to that point, Iowa’s Leshon Williams broke off an 82-yard rushing touchdown to finally put points on the board.

“We knew it was gonna take one, and we gave up that one, and ultimately we lost because of it,” Hunter Wohler said after the game.

Other than that play, they actually held up decently on the ground. If you take away the 82-yarder, Williams ran for 92 yards on 24 carries. Kaleb Johnson finished with just 35 yards for 2.1 yards per carry.

The majority of Wisconsin’s highlights were run-stops on third down. Jake Chaney and Jordan Turner played as well as any Badgers, and kept Wisconsin in the game even when the offense did absolutely nothing.

“They got the one big play that leads to the touchdown. That’s as much as anything the difference in the game," Fickell said. "If we find a way to get him down at the 10-yard-line, whatever, who knows what happens."

Perhaps the most surprising and mind-numbing part of Saturday was that a punter became the star of the show.

Tory Taylor is a senior from Australia that’s been one of the best punters in college football for years, and Saturday he showed why.

Iowa’s defense obviously deserves plenty of credit for shutting down the Badgers offense, but it’s even harder to score when almost every drive begins so close to your goal line.

Wisconsin’s average field position was their own 22, and their own 13 in the second half. There was a stretch in the second half in which they started three straight drives from inside their own 10.

Drive after drive, Wisconsin’s defense would stop Iowa after a few plays and give the offense another shot, then Taylor would instantly kill any hopes of an easy drive by forcing them to go the entire length of the field.

“They dominated us, special teams-wise,” Fickell said. “Their punt team flipped the field on every occasion.”

He finished with 10 punts for 506 total yards, including six punts that ended up within Wisconsin’s 20. The highlight of his day was on Iowa’s first drive of the second half, when the Badger defense forced a three-and-out so Taylor booted it to Wisconsin’s 6.

“He’s the best punter in the country for a reason,” said Wohler.

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