Wisconsin Football: 3 takeaways from Big Ten West win over Iowa

Wisconsin football held on to topple Iowa in a showdown of top-20 Big Ten West foes. What did we learn from the close victory by the Badgers?

Wisconsin pulled away for a 24-22 victory over Iowa on Saturday afternoon in Week 11, rebounding after two straight losses to Illinois and Ohio State to get back on track for a potential 10-win season in Madison. The Badgers took back over the spot in second place of the Big Ten West standings behind undefeated Minnesota, and ensured they will remain in the top 15 of the College Football Playoff rankings this week.

Paul Chryst’s team was hardly attractive in victory, but they did exactly what they needed to do to keep themselves on pace for a hopeful shot at toppling Minnesota to play for the Big Ten championship. That, of course, requires the Golden Gophers to lose once before the November 30 meeting in the Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe — something they have yet to do this year after downing Penn State in Week 11.

There are still plenty of questions for both Iowa and Wisconsin, but at the moment the Badgers showed themselves supreme in 2019 between the two longstanding rivals. What did we learn from this duel in Big Ten West play on Saturday evening? Here are three things to take away from the Badgers win at home.