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The Daily Cardinal Est. 1892
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Corey Clement

Corey Clement ran for more than 100 yards against Iowa, but only mustered 3.8 yards per carry.

Defense suffocates, offense struggles in Badgers' win over Hawkeyes

The Wisconsin Badgers’ defense knew it had to get back on track after allowing a season-high 30 points last week, and Saturday was mission accomplished as UW (2-2 Big Ten, 5-2 overall) held the Iowa Hawkeyes (3-2, 5-3) out of the end zone in a 17-9 victory in Iowa City to reclaim the Heartland Trophy.

Justin Wilcox’s defense is a group that won’t be satisfied with allowing nine points, but the way they shut down senior quarterback C.J. Beathard and the Iowa offense left little to complain about. The Hawkeyes didn’t even cross the 50-yard line until midway through the second quarter, only after a poor punt gave them the ball in Wisconsin territory.

Field goals were all the home offense could muster as Beathard received little help from his running backs and receivers. The Badgers’ defense held Iowa to just 3.1 yards per carry as a team, and the Hawkeyes’ quarterback failed to convert on a number of key third-down situations.

Beathard finished just 17-of-33 for 153 yards as he was unable to dink-and-dunk his offense down the field. Certainly, the return of redshirt senior outside linebacker Vince Biegel helped, but redshirt junior Garret Dooley stayed in the rotation and combined with fellow-redshirt junior T.J. Watt for two sacks.

With the way Wisconsin’s defense played, the game should not have been nearly as close as it was, but the UW offense dealt with some struggles of its own as it was held to only 17 points.

Iowa’s defense deserves some credit, but the Badgers used two quarterbacks and trotted out a handful of different offensive line combinations as they tried to find a consistent group.

Senior running back Corey Clement could only amass 134 yards on 35 carries, a disappointing 3.8-yard average after he seemed to find his groove last week against Ohio State. Two missed field goals by senior kicker Andrew Endicott also helped keep the game closer than it should have been, but Wisconsin was happy to come away with a win after two-straight losses to conference opponents.

It was big for UW to get some confidence back, especially for a defense facing another Top 10 team next week when the No. 8 Nebraska Cornhuskers come to Madison. The Badgers have to win out to keep their playoff hopes alive, and taking the advantage over Iowa in the Big Ten West with this victory was a big first step.

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