The week before what was supposed to be Wisconsin's stiffest test prior to Indianapolis, comes...perhaps Wisconsin's stiffest test prior to Indianapolis. The Hawkeyes are being viewed in a whole different light after mopping the floor with Ohio State a week ago. While Iowa is 6-3, all 3 losses have come to ranked teams, two on the road, and in overtime (Northwestern), on the last play of the game (Penn State), and by 7 (Michigan State). What remains to be seen though is if Iowa can take that Kinnick magic on the road with them. Getting big wins in Iowa City has never been the obstacle, it's getting them on the road. Two years ago the Hawkeyes came into Camp Randall and beat #19 Wisconsin to take the Heartland Trophy, and begin to get attention in a season that saw them reach the Big Ten title game, and as high as #3 in the national polls. Aside from Jack Cichy in the preseason, Wisconsin hasn't suffered the type of marquee injury that changes perceptions, but seemingly each week a new guy or two gets added, to the point now that the list is the most unfriendly in the conference, and now they've added perhaps the biggest name since Cichy to that list in WR Quintez Cephus, the team's leading receiver, and 7th in the Big Ten in receiving yardage. Only Rutgers passes at a lower frequency than Wisconsin, so it's not like losing Jonathan Taylor, but he's the one guy that could consistently stretch the field with Jazz Peavy already out. A.J. Taylor stepped up already in Cephus' absence late against Indiana last week, with 3 catches for a career high 63 yards, and even got a carry. But going from Cephus to Taylor costs them about 3 inches, with the 5'10" Taylor. As for the other Taylor, Jonathan, he has gone from making the Silver Football race interesting, to probably being the leader, after Barkley has disappeared from Penn State's offense, and Barrett had himself a massive clunker last weekend. He's leading the conference in rushing by about 40 ypg over Karan Higdon. To have any shot Iowa needs the Nathan Stanley from last week to return. The overall numbers for Wisconsin's pass defense look ok, at 191.3 ypg allowed, actually leading the conference at 5.6 ypa allowed. Take a closer look at opposition though. Against Clayton Thorson, Tanner Lee and Richard Lagow, the Badgers are surrendering 235.6 ypg; while Elijah Sindelar, Max Bortenschlager and Jeff George Jr. combined to average 129.3 ypg. I think Nathan Stanley certainly belongs more in that first group. The trouble is, he hasn't performed there week in and week out.
WISCONSIN 28, IOWA 16
