Playing before 82,630 fiercely partisan fans at Camp Randall Stadium, Wisconsin stretched the longest winning streak in major-college football to 13 games Saturday night by downing Iowa 17-13 in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Ninth-ranked Wisconsin had won all three of its non-conference games, while Iowa took its first two before losing at Iowa State on a field goal with one second left. In Iowa’s three games, all 18 points against it came on field goals.
“I really like this football team,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said before the game. “Whether we win or lose, the season is not going to be over. We’re playing in a rambunctious place, and we’re playing a team that’s outstanding in all regards.”
Both teams excelled defensively, but their offenses left a lot to be desired for most of a first half that ended with a sudden offensive surge that sent Iowa to the dressing room leading 10-7.
In the first quarter the Badgers had minus-9 yards to show for their nine rushing attempts. The Hawkeyes had minus-7 in 10 carries. Both teams attempted seven passes and completed just two.
Iowa quarterback Jake Christensen was under incessant pressure. Time and again the Lockport native threw the ball out of bounds.
Wisconsin quarterback Tyler Donovan also was often a study in duress. On their first possession, the Badgers drove from their 39 to the Iowa 16, but Donovan fumbled when he took a hit from linebacker Mike Klinkenborg. Defensive end Bryan Mattison returned the ball 14 yards.
Another mistake by Donovan, this one an interception late in the first half, led to the Iowa field goal that opened the scoring. Linebacker A.J. Edds picked off the ball for the Hawkeyes and was immediately downed at the Wisconsin 46. The Hawkeyes drove to the 24, where they faced a fourth-and-7 situation. Ferentz sent in Daniel Murray, and he connected on a 41-yard field goal with 2 minutes 28 seconds left in the half.
One of Wisconsin coach Brad Bielema’s favorite adages is: “It’s not so much what happens during the course of a game; it’s how you react to it.” And the Badgers had an immediate reaction to the field goal.
David Gilreath ran back the ensuing kickoff 28 yards to the Wisconsin 28, and then the offense finally began to click. Led by Donovan’s passing, the Badgers drove to the Iowa 20.
Then stellar running back P.J. Hill, who scored five touchdowns the previous week against The Citadel, broke loose and ran the ball into the end zone. He fumbled when he was tackled by Edds, but center Norm Coleman recovered for the Badgers.
However, the touchdown was wiped out after the officials reviewed the play and determined that an inadvertent whistle had halted Hill’s run at the Iowa 3-yard line.
So it became first-and-goal at the 3.
It turned out that all the inadvertent whistle had done was to deny Hill a touchdown. After throwing an incompletion, Donovan found Travis Beckum in the end zone for the first touchdown of the year against Iowa. Taylor Mehlhaff kicked the extra point and Wisconsin led 7-3 with 43 seconds remaining in the half.
The lead was short-lived. The Hawkeyes drove 62 yards in five plays to regain the lead with four seconds left on Christensen’s 21-yard scoring pass to Derrell Johnson-Koulianos. Murray added the extra point, giving Iowa its three-point halftime lead.
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