With one more regular season game to play, and a possible New Year’s Day bowl game on the line, the Wisconsin Badgers will face the Iowa Hawkeyes Saturday at Camp Randall.
When legendary coach Hayden Fry left Iowa in 1998, the Hawkeyes experienced a brief downturn. Thanks to new coach Kirk Ferentz, however, Iowa is once again a consistent contender for the Big Ten crown.
After an impressive 2002 campaign where they went undefeated in the Big Ten play and earned a trip to the Orange Bowl, the Hawkeyes are having another successful Big Ten season. Although they will not win the championship this year, a win over the Badgers will probably place Iowa in a New Year’s Day bowl game.
Both teams enter the game with a 4-3 conference, so this game is of monumental importance to each team’s post-season aspirations.
The Hawkeyes come to Madison ranked seventeenth in both major polls with an 8-3 record. Their three losses have all come against quality opponents on the road. The first loss came early in the season against a peaking Michigan State team. The second loss came at the Horseshoe against perennial power Ohio State, and their final loss was two weeks ago against Purdue.
Last weekend, however, Iowa rebounded with a resounding 40-22 victory over a Minnesota team that defeated the Badgers two weeks ago. In Iowa’s victory the opportunistic Hawkeye defense forced three Minnesota fumbles, including one at the goal line and had built a 40-6 halftime lead.
Leading the aforementioned defense are two sophomore linebackers, Abdul Hodge and Chad Greenway. Hodge has 119 tackles this season, but Greenway is right behind him with 117. Hodge had a season-high sixteen tackles last weekend against Minnesota and Greenway added ten.
Anchoring the line for the Hawkeyes are senior Howard Hodges who has 9 sacks and 10 tackles for losses and junior Matt Roth who leads the team with 11 sacks and 14 tackles for losses.
Ferentz, though, knows if he wants to defeat the Badgers this weekend, his secondary will have to contain Wisconsin’s talented wide receiving corps, especially Lee Evans. Iowa’s main defensive stopper in the secondary is sophomore Jovon Johnson who leads the team with four interceptions.
When the Hawkeye defense is not stopping opponents, their offense is showcasing its multi-dimensional talent.
Leading the offense is 5-foot-8 senior running back Fred Russell. Fortunately, the Badgers did not have to face Russell last year, but they have seen what he has done this season. Russell rushed for 110 yards against a stingy Michigan defense on October 4. And although he has been held to 58 in the last two games, Russell has still rushed for over 1,000 yards this season. The Badgers run defense will need to be prepared for the speedy tailback.
Senior quarterback Nathan Chandler directs the offense, and while his numbers aren’t gaudy (16 touchdowns to 8 interceptions), he efficiently leads the Hawkeye attack. Chandler’s main target is senior wide receiver Ramon Ochoa. Not only does Ochoa lead the team with 31 catches for 457 yards and 5 touchdowns, but he has also amassed over 800 yards in return yardage on the season. The Badger secondary and special teams will have to keep a close watch on Ochoa.
Two of Chandler’s other main targets are senior Maurice Brown who caught 8 balls for 126 yards against Purdue, and freshman Calvin Davis who caught 5 balls for 109 yards three weeks ago against Illinois.
Ferentz will attempt to have his offense stretch out the Badger defense and challenge their athleticism and will attempt to have his defense stop the resurgent Badger offense with the Hawkeye’s outstanding linebackers and defensive line.
With bowl aspirations and prestige on the line this weekend, Ferentz and his rebuilt program will be ready to battle Wisconsin. With Outback Bowl officials looking on, the Badgers will have a difficult task defeating the talented Hawkeyes this weekend.
