It sure wasn't pretty. Dropped balls, penalties, missed blocks and worst of all, injuries, can sum up Wisconsin's 20-3 defeat at the hands of the No. 9 Iowa Hawkeyes (6-0 Big Ten, (9-1 overall) this past Saturday.
UW (1-4, 6-4) managed to ride their defense through the first half as they kept the score close. However, the lack of offense caught up to the team at the most inopportune times as Iowa outscored the Badgers 10-0 in the second half on route to their sixth conference victory.
\We got beat by a better team,"" Head Coach Barry Alvarez said as he watched his team continue to fall to the cellar of the Big Ten.
""We came in thinking we could establish the running game, but we never did. They just out-executed us."" he said.
Not only did the Badgers not execute, but the Hawkeye defense also just flat out dominated the Badger offense. The Badgers only totalled two-hundred fifteen yards on offense combined injuries to the Badgers' senior quarterback Brooks Bollinger and also his backup, junior Jim Sorgi, it was clear that the Hawkeye defense literally manhandled the UW offense.
Led by senior defensive back Derek Pagel's eight tackles and one interception, the Hawkeye defense held the Badger offense in check, allowing more than 50 yards on a drive only once the entire game.
Sophomore running back Anthony Davis was also held to a career-low 37 yards rushing on 16 carries and was a complete nonfactor in the ball game.
UW did have their chances early. Significant offensive miscues troubled the Badgers including penalties, horrible blocking and most of all, dropped passes. UW was plagued with dropped balls all day from their receivers, most notably sophomore running back Jerome Pettus who dropped a wide-open touchdown in the second quarter. The Badgers were given their chances, but again, as they have shown all year, could not capitalize.
Iowa, on the other hand, provided the big play and scored enough points on the Badger defense to comfortably win the game. Led by senior quarterback Brad Banks, the Hawkeyes' offense took advantage of the Badgers' missed opportunity to score and immediately drove down the field and scored the go-ahead touchdown. Banks efficiently passed for 275 and two 20-yard touchdowns, but more importantly, did not turn the ball over.
Wisconsin had their opportunities but continued to shoot themselves in the foot, like they have done all year long. Whether it is on offense or defense, the Badgers seem to lack focus for a full 60 minutes and it seems to be translating into frequent miscues and inevitably, losses.
With the Badgers' bowl hopes on life support UW will have to step it up against Illinois and ignore off-the-field problems, if they want to be playing in late December.
""It's not easy. Losing is hard enough. But again, you just deal with it. When you've been around long enough, you know what happens. You have to deal with it and move forward. We have a game Saturday,"" said Alvarez.
