[media-credit name=’MATTHEW KUTZ/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit] Wisconsin was hoping to send Barry Alvarez out on a high note. But Drew Tate and the Iowa Hawkeyes played spoiler at Camp Randall Saturday evening, beating the Badgers 20-10 in Alvarez's final game on the sidelines in Madison in front of 83,184 fans.

Tate threw for 224 yards and a pair of scores, and running back Albert Young rushed for 117 yards to hand Iowa its fourth straight win over Wisconsin.

The Badgers scored the game's first 10 points — all in the first quarter — but had no answer for the Hawkeyes in the second half.

UW quarterback John Stocco in particular started strong, completing seven of 10 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown in the opening quarter. That touchdown toss came on UW's second possession of the game, a 17-yard pass to wide receiver Brandon Williams. Badger safety Joe Stellmacher intercepted a Tate pass that went in and out of the hands of wideout Ed Hinkel just four plays earlier to set up the score.

On Wisconsin's next possession, Stocco completed four of his five attempts on a drive that ended with a 24-yard Taylor Mehlhaff field goal.

"We did what we wanted to do to start the football game," Alvarez said. "We wanted to start fast. I thought we played well defensively for a half, and offensively we did what we wanted to do."

The second half, however, was a different story.

Tate threw for both of his touchdowns and 136 of his yards after the break, a second half in which Iowa out-gained UW 246 to 94 in total yardage. Wisconsin made just five first downs in the second stanza, compared to Iowa's 13. Stocco, on the other hand, struggled — completing nine of his 20 passes for 100 yards.

"Once they got the momentum, they just kept it with them and we just needed a play to stop it — some big play offensively or defensively," Stellmacher said. "We just never got it; they sustained that momentum and just kind of steamrolled in the second half."

That's not to say the Badgers didn't have their opportunities throughout the contest though. Stocco overthrew wide receiver Brandon Williams on UW's second play from scrimmage. Stocco also couldn't connect with Jonathan Orr later in the half on a pair of deep passes.

Williams dropped a Stocco pass down the seam on the opening possession of the third quarter; a play that Alvarez said was a turning point.

"That one with Brandon, I really thought that took the air out of us a bit," Alvarez said. "But you have to overcome those, we didn't catch them."

After a Ken DeBauche punt, Tate connected with Clinton Solomon for 40 yards, the first play of a 75-yard scoring drive. Tate capped the march with his first touchdown pass, a six-yard toss to reserve fullback Champ Davis to tie the game at 10-10 with 10:11 remaining in the third.

Exactly nine minutes later, Tate gave the Hawkeyes their first lead of the game on a 13-yard score to tight end Ryan Majerus. Iowa would have faced a crucial third-and-10 on its own 20-yard line early in the drive were it not for a roughing the passer penalty on Wisconsin defensive end Kurt Ware. Instead, the flag moved the ball to the 35, and Young rushed for 44 yards on the next three plays to set up the score.

"Bottom line is that we didn't get discouraged after the first half, and we were able to come out after halftime and put together some good drives," Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. "Our guys stuck to the plan and they went out and got it done."

Just as Tate and the offense rose to the occasion, so did the Hawkeye defense. Iowa sacked Stocco four times in the second half alone, and six times overall. The Hawkeyes similarly grounded Badger star running back Brian Calhoun, limiting him to just 18 yards on 15 carries for the game.

"The protection broke down, particularly in the second half, and we never did establish a running game," Alvarez said. "You can't keep giving them the ball back … their offense is too dangerous."

Added Williams: "They stopped us on three-and-outs when they needed to. They just got the job done and we didn't execute like we should have."

And for the Badgers, the loss put a damper on what was officially "Barry Alvarez Day" in the state of Wisconsin and a post-game celebration that included a video presentation and on-field ceremony of the coach's career at UW.

"Anytime you lose it's tough, but this is especially tough with this being coach's last home game, for these seniors," Stocco said. "So it's tough to swallow right now."