Iowa will be without its top running back as it looks to bounce back from its worst offensive showing of the season when it faces No. 25 Wisconsin for the Heartland Trophy Saturday in Iowa City.
Iowa (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) lost 13-10 at Minnesota on a 46-yard field goal on the final play to drop out of the Top 25. The Hawkeyes also lost leading rusher Kamari Moulton, who suffered a season-ending upper-body injury, coach Kirk Ferentz confirmed Tuesday.
The Badgers (5-2, 3-1) moved into the rankings with a 24-7 upset of then-No. 16 Southern California. Wisconsin’s two losses have been to teams currently in the top seven of the AP poll, Notre Dame and UCLA.
“They’re playing at a really high level,” Ferentz said Tuesday about Wisconsin. “… If you think about peoples’ perception of their football team in August compared to now, things have shifted a little bit.”
The Hawkeyes, who were stymied by three interceptions and a blocked punt, pulled even at Minnesota with just under four minutes remaining with their lone touchdown, a 37-yard scoring pass from Hank Brown to Reece Vander Zee. But the Gophers answered with a 44-yard drive to set up the winning field goal.
Iowa, which scored a season-low 10 points, outgained Minnesota 288-209 and held the Gophers to 72 yards on the ground. Minnesota also was just 2-of-14 on third down.
Brown split time with Jeremy Hecklinski against Minnesota, but Ferentz said Brown would start against Wisconsin. Brown completed 11 of 21 passes for 136 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, while Hecklinski was 9-of-16 passing for 62 yards with one pick.
Tony Diaz is the top receiving target with 29 catches for 386 yards. Tight end DJ Vonnahme has 24 receptions for 250 yards, and Vander Zee has 20 catches and four TDs with a team-best 15.8 yards per reception.
With Moulton out, the Hawkeyes are expected to turn to Xavier Williams (187 yards), Braeden Jackson (177 yards) and Nathan McNeil (128 yards).
The Hawkeyes average 28 points per game while allowing just 14.3 and outgain opponents 386.7 to 281.3.
Iowa has won the last four meetings, including a 37-0 victory last season in Madison. The Badgers have a 49-48-2 edge in the historic series that dates back to 1894.
“There’s a lot of things that haven’t gone well for us in this rivalry game,” Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell said Monday. “We need to do a whole lot to change that, and it’s not going to be easy. I don’t know if there’s a tougher place to play in the country.”
Wisconsin’s defense completely throttled USC, holding the Trojans to their fewest points since a 17-3 loss to Stanford in 2018.
Led by linebacker Cooper Catalano with 10 tackles, the Badgers held USC to minus-17 yards rushing, including five sacks for 57 yards.
Wisconsin has allowed 107 points, but just 66 in six games since the opening loss to Notre Dame.
Quarterback Colton Joseph completed 12 of 14 passes for 58 yards with one touchdown against USC. Abu Sama III rushed for 71 yards on a season-high 17 carries.
Joseph has completed 99 of 173 passes (57.2%) for 1,256 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. He’s gone three games without a pick since throwing three in the Badgers’ comeback defeat of Penn State.
Joseph is also the team’s leading rusher with 365 yards and a team-high four touchdowns, followed by Sama with 295 yards and one score.