Playing before 82,630 fiercely partisan fans in Camp Randall Stadium, ninth-ranked Wisconsin stretched the longest winning streak in major college football to 13 games on Saturday night by downing stubborn Iowa 17-13 in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
After getting bottled up for 23 yards on seven carries in the first 29 minutes, sophomore running back P.J. Hill made the game’s two most important plays for Wisconsin (4-0), setting up its first touchdown with a 17-yard run late in the first half and running 2 yards for the go-ahead TD with 9 minutes 42 seconds to play.
“The game came down to the wire and we made them earn it,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “It was an outstanding football game — they deserved to win.”
The touchdowns were the first scored against Iowa (2-2) this season. In the Hawkeyes’ three non-conference games, all 18 of the opponents’ points came on field goals.
The Hawkeyes again played a strong game on defense, but Wisconsin was even stronger defensively. The Badgers repeatedly forced Iowa quarterback Jake Christensen to scramble out of the pocket and throw hurried incomplete passes and shut down the Hawkeyes’ running game.
Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema cited Christensen’s inexperience in explaining his team’s incessant third-down blitzing.
“He’s very athletic and agile and obviously can throw the football well,” Bielema said. “We wanted to make him make decisions instead of letting him think through his decisions.”
Hill finished with 113 yards on 29 carries, while the Hawkeyes managed only 59 yards on 26 rushing attempts.
Nevertheless, to avert an upset Wisconsin had to overcome two costly first-half turnovers by quarterback Tyler Donovan.
“We were very fortunate to get the win,” Wisconsin wide receiver Luke Swan said. “We were just able to come together and put together the right drives at the right time.”
One of Donovan’s fumbles killed a scoring drive by the Badgers on their first possession; the other enabled the Hawkeyes to open the scoring on Daniel Murray’s 41-yard field goal with 2:28 to play in the first half.
After the Badgers drove to the Iowa 16 on their first possession, linebacker Mike Klinkenborg put a hit on Donovan to jar loose the football, and defensive end Bryan Mattison returned the fumble 14 yards.
Late in the first half linebacker A.J. Edds intercepted a pass by Donovan to give the Hawkeyes the ball at the Wisconsin 46, and they parlayed that into Murray’s field goal.
The Badgers’ immediate reaction to the field goal was to drive 72 yards for a touchdown. Donovan’s passing led the drive and, with 43 seconds left in the half, his 3-yard pass to Travis Beckum produced the TD. But the big play was the 17-yard run by Hill that put the football on the 3-yard line.
Hill’s 17-yard run should have been a touchdown because he took the ball into the end zone and, although he fumbled when Edds tackled him, center Marcus Coleman recovered for the Badgers.
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However, the TD was wiped out after officials reviewed the play and determined that an inadvertent whistle had halted Hill’s run at the Iowa 3-yard line.
Following Hill’s fourth-quarter touchdown run that put Wisconsin on top 14-13, Murray’s 37-yard field goal cut the Iowa deficit to 14-13 with 6:29 to play. But Taylor Mehlhaff answered with a 40-yard field goal with 2:02 remaining.
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