Badgers get bulldozed by Iowa run game, lose in blowout fashion

The Hawkeyes rushed for 329 yards and five touchdowns in a dominant win over Wisconsin on Saturday.

Iowa quarterback Brendan Sullivan (1) scores on a 1-yard touchdown run against Wisconsin during the second quarter at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa, on Nov. 2, 2024. / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

The Badgers football team is always in for a physical game against Iowa. The Hawkeyes like to pound the run and play defense, and it was obvious that would be the case with their quarterback, Cade McNamara, out with a concussion.

The Badgers certainly knew what they were in for with the Iowa run game, but they had absolutely no answer for Kaleb Johnson and the Hawkeyes. Iowa racked up 329 yards on the ground and rushed for five touchdowns, including three from Johnson, in a blowout 42-10 win over the Badgers Saturday night at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.

It's the Badgers' second straight loss.

It was a promising start for the Badgers (5-4, 3-3 Big Ten), who went 59 yards in 12 plays on their opening drive and scored the opening points of the game when Nathanial Vakos booted a 38-yard field goal.

But the next seven Wisconsin possessions were a Braedyn Locke interception, two straight three-and-outs, a four-play, 15-yard drive, an eight-play, 17-yard drive, a five-play 21-yard drive and another Locke interception. By then it was 21-3.

The Badgers mustered just 261 yards of total offense to Iowa's 422, they went just 2 for 11 on third downs and they also racked up eight penalties for 55 yards. Wisconsin, frankly, couldn't get much of anything done against the Iowa defense.

Brendan Sullivan, who filled in for the injured McNamara, scored the opening touchdown on a 1-yard run early in the second quarter to cap a seven-play, 53-yard drive. The Hawkeyes (6-3, 4-2) scored on their next drive, too, with Johnson scoring on a 16-yard scamper for his first touchdown of the day and a 14-3 Iowa advantage, which was the score at half.

After forcing a Wisconsin punt on its first drive of the new half, the Hawkeyes marched 86 yards down the field in 10 plays, and Johnson closed the drive with a touchdown run from 9 yards out. Locke's second interception set up a short field for Iowa, and Sullivan hit receiver for a 7-yard touchdown pass. Sullivan completed 7-of-10 passes for 93 yards and the TD.

Facing a 28-3 deficit then in the third quarter, the Badgers finally answered with a 10-play, 79-yard touchdown drive. Locke hit Vinny Anthony II for a 32-yard gain, and Tawee Walker finished it off with a 2-yard touchdown run.

But Iowa came back with an eight-play, 77-yard touchdown drive in which Johnson ran in his third of the day.

Johnson had 24 carries for 135 yards and three touchdowns overall.

And for good measure, after forcing another Wisconsin punt — Atticus Bertrams punted six times — the Hawkeyes took 7 minutes, 13 seconds off the clock on a 12-play, 66-yard drive that Jazuin Patterson capped with a 4-yard touchdown run.

It was just an all-around brutal showing for the Badgers on both sides of the ball. Locke completed just 15-of-29 passes for 137 yards, a touchdown and the two interceptions. Darrion Dupree had 52 rushing yards on seven carries, and Walker ran 16 times for 52 yards and the touchdown. Anthony was the leading receiver with four catches for 61 yards.

It was the type of performance that certainly doesn't instill confidence for a brutal upcoming matchup against top-ranked Oregon on Nov. 16. The Badgers will have two weeks to prepare, but they'll have a lot to figure out before they host the nation's best at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., in a game that'll be their first Big Ten matchup against the Ducks.