The UW football team will ride into Iowa City on a high after winning six straight games and falling to Michigan early in the year. However, over the last few seasons, UW has not had much success when playing the Hawkeyes. In fact, the Badgers have been on the losing side of the ball four consecutive seasons in a row.
""There is so much to play for,"" senior middle linebacker Mark Zalewski said. ""[There are] a lot of bowl implications, [and] none of us have beaten Iowa.""
The most recent trip into Kinnick Stadium was one most Badger fans remember, but would like to forget. After an early morning upset featured Ohio State up-ending Michigan, the road to Pasadena was set for the cardinal and white if they were able to beat Iowa. The Hawkeyes prevailed in that game 30-7, forcing the Badgers to settle for a berth in the Outback Bowl. This season, a lot of that same intrigue is present.
The Badgers head into Iowa with only one loss, and with a win, UW would still mathematically be included in all of the Rose Bowl talk. However, this game will not be easy, especially with senior quarterback John Stocco's health status still unclear. Iowa will look to exploit UW's injuries, while also looking to rebound from an embarrassing loss to Northwestern last Saturday.
""We know they're going to be excited, I mean there's a lot of emotion for this game, but it is our last Big Ten game and I'm sure our seniors are going to be riding an emotional high,"" Zalewski said. ""We just have to match the enthusiasm that they're going to have.""
Senior safety and punt returner Zach Hampton added, ""It's a tough place to play, [but] it's just another game, another field.""
For Iowa it has been a somewhat difficult and frustrating year, culminating with the 21-7 loss to Big Ten bottom-dweller Northwestern last week. That said, UW is not taking that defeat for granted.
""They have pride and high expectations so they'll be disappointed,"" defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz said. ""It's always tough to play a team that had some frustrations like that."" Along with the frustration and what will seem to be an emotional senior day for the Hawkeyes, UW will have to remain focused and shut down a strong offense led by senior quarterback Drew Tate if they are to be successful this weekend.
""Tate, we have great respect for. He's a great competitor, he's elusive and feels pressure,"" Hankwitz said. ""He can scramble and beat you or he can elude the pressure and throw to beat you. It's going to be a great challenge.""
While this rivalry has been deadlocked for its entirety, with Iowa holding the slight advantage 40-39-2, it has just recently become a trophy rivalry game. While maybe the trophy is not as intriguing as Paul Bunyan's Axe, the Heartland Trophy is still important for UW, especially the seniors. ""Coming into the season if we didn't win one game, I wanted to [beat] Iowa the most just because we haven't beaten them in the last few years,"" Hampton said. ""It just seems like we lose the game ourselves.""
The game kicks off at 11 a.m. and will be televised on ESPN.
