IOWA CITY, IOWA—The wait is finally over. After four straight losses to Iowa—including a heartbreaking 20-10 loss in Barry Alvarez's last home game as head coach—the Badgers came up with a 24-21 win Saturday over the Hawkeyes in Iowa City.
With John Stocco sidelined due to injury, the Badgers handed the ball to junior quarterback Tyler Donovan for his first career start.
Donovan's start ended Stocco's streak of 35 straight starts, but gave Donovan a chance to showcase his talent. He finished the game 17-of-24 for 228 yards and two touchdowns, as well as 13 rushes for 61 yards.
""I was just trying to do what was asked of me,"" Donovan said. ""We had a clear game plan for me going into the game.""
He orchestrated a 34-yard drive on the Badgers' second possession that ended with a Taylor Melhaff 31-yard field goal. Donovan threw only one pass, but had a huge 18-yard scramble on second and long that put the Badgers in field goal range.
On the first play of the ensuing Iowa possession, senior safety Roderick Rogers picked off Drew Tate's pass attempt, and returned it to the Iowa 26. The great field position set Wisconsin up for a quick score, as Donovan connected with tight end Travis Beckum on two consecutive plays to put the Badgers up 10-0.
The game became a battle for field position until Iowa caught a break. On second and 18 from their own 14-yard line, UW sophomore cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu was called for pass interference on a questionable call that gave the Hawkeyes an automatic first down.
""I felt my hand hit the ball, and then my chest hit [the Iowa player] so I knew it wasn't pass interference,"" Ikegwuonu explained. ""But the refs sometimes have difficult angles, so you get some calls and some you don't.""
The call prolonged the Iowa drive, and on a third-down play, Tate found his tight end Scott Chandler for a 64-yard catch-and-run completion. Two plays later, the Hawkeyes found the end zone, getting them on the board, though still down 10-7.
Wisconsin went three-and-out on its ensuing drive and punted the ball back to Iowa. Mostly relying on the legs of their running backs, the Hawkeyes proceeded to march 69 yards down the field for another touchdown, giving them their only lead of the day, 14-10.
On the very next drive, the Badgers reclaimed the lead with a little over two minutes remaining in the half. They ran a textbook two minute drill, capped off by a 42-yard touchdown catch by junior wideout Luke Swan. Going into the half, the Badgers led 17-10.
The teams then traded off possessions until Iowa pinned the Badgers at their own three-yard line with 6:29 left in the third quarter. Wisconsin marched down the field for a 97-yard drive that ended with a P.J. Hill touchdown run, putting the Badgers up 24-14. The drive consumed 7:40, and appeared to drain and demoralize the Iowa defense.
The Hawkeyes eventually got a turnover off a Hill fumble, and quickly scored with the short field. Iowa seemed to be back in the game only down 24-21, but missed a big opportunity when Chandler dropped a sure first-down pass from Tate on third and long. Iowa got the ball one more time but another dropped pass on fourth down sealed the victory for the UW seniors.
