The Wisconsin football team will try to snap its three-game losing streak this weekend when it travels to Iowa City to play for the Heartland Trophy.
The Badgers (0-3 Big Ten, 3-3 overall) have beaten the Hawkeyes (1-2 Big Ten, 4-3 overall) in their past two meetings. Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema earned four letters as a player for Iowa before serving as a Hawkeye assistant coach for nine seasons. Bielema looks forward to once again facing his alma mater.
They've got a lot of physical football players up front playing their best football now at this time of the year,"" Bielema said Monday. ""It's a tremendous challenge and a great opportunity for us to go on the road and get a good gauge of where we are.""
The Badgers hope to bounce back from a disastrous 48-7 loss against the Penn State Nittany Lions, in which Wisconsin gave up 377 total yards of offense and 31 unanswered points. Although Wisconsin has struggled lately, several Badgers were pleased with the way the team has responded during practice.
""We just want to approach practice with attitude,"" senior cornerback Allen Langford said. ""Approach practice by doing things the right way - doing things full speed, working hard, having great energy, having great enthusiasm and looking forward to going out there and playing a great team in Iowa.""
The Hawkeyes are led by sophomore quarterback Ricky Stanzi, as well as junior running back Shonn Greene.
Greene has rushed for more than 100 yards in every game this season, to go along with six touchdowns. Wisconsin's defense seems to be well aware of Greene's consistency and ability to make big plays.
""The offense is pretty simple, but at the same time they have some great players running their offense,"" senior linebacker Jonathan Casillas said. ""[Greene] is probably one of the best in the Big Ten. He runs very hard, he's very big and very experienced as well. I think stopping him is probably going to be our main challenge.""
Another major factor in the contest could be the hostile atmosphere of Kinnick Stadium. Several Badgers remember their past trip to Iowa City, a 24-21 Wisconsin win in November 2006.
""It gets really nasty there,"" Langford said. ""The fans are really close, and it can be a rough environment to play in. But the great thing about it is you can control the volume in their stadium. So if we do things the right way, we can have a lot of fun.""
The winner of the game will be rewarded with the Heartland Trophy, a brass bull that was first presented in 2004. Since then, the teams have split the series 2-2. Casillas sees the renewal of the rivalry as a chance for the Badgers to get the fresh start they might need to turn around their season.
""Iowa's a great team, and we have a great history going against them,"" Casillas said. ""It adds a little more that coach Bielema used to play there and coach there. It's an intense rivalry. I'm glad it came around at this time to give us an added extra influence to get ready for this game.""
The game begins at 11 a.m. and will be shown on the Big Ten Network.
