IOWA CITY, Iowa - No image was more emblematic of where the Badgers are this season.
Last week's starting quarterback, senior Allan Evridge, and this week's starter, junior Dustin Sherer, stood next to each other on the sideline, wearing headsets and sending in plays to third-stringer Scott Tolzien as Wisconsin trailed 38-9 late in the fourth quarter against Iowa.
When the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Badgers (0-4 Big Ten, 3-4 overall) had their first four-game losing streak in over 10 years, courtesy of a 38-16 defeat at the hands of the Hawkeyes. Many of the 70,585 in attendance rushed the field after Iowa reclaimed the Heartland Trophy, which goes to the annual winner of the game, for the first time since 2005.
We made an emphasis to our guys in the postgame locker room there, that we're going to take a very critical look at everything that we're doing,"" Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema said.
The biggest failure for the Badgers came in run defense, where an excess of missed tackles and a dominating performance by Iowa's offensive line made for a long day. The Hawkeyes' top running back, Shonn Greene, ran for 217 yards and four scores while averaging 8.7 yards per carry.
""To be honest with you, it really felt like they were kind of working us,"" senior defensive tackle Mike Newkirk said, adding that Iowa's cut-back runs were especially problematic.
Iowa scored the first time they got the ball, going 70 yards in seven plays, five of them carries by Greene. The teams then proceeded to trade punts until Iowa took possession six minutes into the second quarter.
First, the Hawkeyes gained 15 yards on a pass-interference penalty, and Greene took them the next 42 yards for the touchdown and 14-point lead. The Wisconsin offense finally broke through near the end of the half as Sherer completed four passes on a drive to set up a 42-yard field goal.
Wisconsin's managed to continue its scoring run by hitting field goals of 40 and 35 yards on its first two possessions of the second half and cutting its deficit to 14-9.
The Badgers may have been able to score more, but one of their seven penalties contributed to the end of their first drive of the half.
""The offensive penalties kept us from maybe making the field goals into touchdowns,"" Bielema said.
The very next Iowa possession began with a roughing-the-passer penalty on the Badgers and ended with Greene scoring from 52 yards out, putting the score at 21-9. After the game, Bielema referenced the negative energy that began with penalties and mistakes and resulted in big plays for Iowa.
A crucial play came when the Badgers were again forced to punt and a Hawkeye came through unblocked. The ball itself was untouched, but only traveled 12 yards after freshman punter Brad Nortman took a jarring hit mid-kick.
The Hawkeyes went on to score 17 more points while the Badger passing game struggled to move the ball.
Sherer's day ended when two consecutive drives early in the fourth quarter ended with interceptions by Iowa junior middle linebacker Pat Angerer.
Tolzien, a sophomore making his second appearance for Wisconsin, came in to lead the only Badger touchdown drive, which ended with a 21-yard scoring run by sophomore Zach Brown.
The game ended minutes later when Tolzien threw Wisconsin's third interception of the quarter.
The Badger ground attack, usually a staple of their offense, was held to 91 yards and 3.5 yards per carry in the first three quarters. Freshman running back John Clay led the team with 89 yards, making it the fourth straight game without a 100-yard rusher for Wisconsin.
After the game, some of the defensive players took responsibility for the defense's poor performance.
""We're just not playing consistent. We're making the same mistakes out there,"" Newkirk said. ""Sometimes we'll play good on certain plays and then we'll let other plays hurt us. Focus on those plays and you lose your concentration on other plays '¦ Everything seems to be not going our way.
