Iowa Football: 3 takeaways from ugly road win at Wisconsin

2. Iowa football defensive takeaways

There’s an old saying in football, “you have to be sound in all three phases of the game.” Few teams in college football excel on defense and special teams like the Hawkeyes. Defensive coordinator Phil Parker and special teams coach LeVar Woods are two of the best in the business. Both the special teams and the defense were in rare form this afternoon.

The defense held the Badgers to 337 total yards, four yards per play, and 2.8 yards per rush. Both starting quarterbacks were under constant pressure all game. Iowa had only one sack but pressured both quarterbacks often. The secondary did an outstanding job of covering and tackling.

Wisconsin defensive takeaways

On the balance, the Badgers did a solid job against the Iowa offense. Wisconsin allowed one offensive touchdown, and it was a big one. The Hawkeyes had eight three-and-outs and 237 total yards. That said, the defense has to get a score when you play Iowa.

The Badgers don’t have the skill position talent to take advantage of Iowa’s anemic offense, so since they couldn’t score, the defense or special teams needed to make a play, but they could not.