Four Things to Watch: Wisconsin-Iowa

Wisconsin Badgers head on the road for a rivalry match with Iowa Hawkeyes. At the beginning of the year, people thought this would be a top-25 matchup, but Iowa failed to live up to expectations this year. It’s not like they are a bad team, rather, they aren’t what they were in 2015. This should be a good matchup, and hopefully with a little more offense than the 10-6 matchup last year at Camp Randall.
Corey Clement to eat again?
For the first time since Week 2, Corey Clement had a big day on the ground. Clement rushed for 164 yards against a good Ohio State rush defense. Iowa is middle of the road, but their defense allowed 159 yards per game thus far. Northwestern’s Justin Jackson rushed for 171 yards, and North Dakota State had 239 yards on the ground. The opportunities will be there for Clement to have a huge day. We’ve seen what he looks like when he’s healthy, and that should excite Badgers fans.
The return of Vince Biegel
Granted, it looked like Wisconsin did fine without Vince Biegel, he returns to the defense. Biegel misses three games with his foot injury and gives an immediate boost to the mean Badgers front seven. Biegel is the catalyst of Wisconsin’s defense. The return is timely as Zach Baun will be out with an injury. He’s practiced all week so I don’t think Wisconsin will limit what he can do on the football field.
Will Alex Hornibrook test Desmond King?
Iowa has one of the best defenders in the country with Desmond King. He will probably be a top 15 pick in next year’s draft. King will likely find himself on Jazzy Peavy who has emerged as Wisconsin’s number one wide receiver plus Robert Wheelwright is questionable with a leg injury.. Wisconsin will use Peavy in space with more jet sweeps. Badgers will likely try to avoid kicking to King on punt returns like they did with Jabril Peppers earlier this season.
Iowa’s offense needs to show up
Sure, the Hawkeyes had 49 points against Purdue last week, but most high schools could do that honestly. Wisconsin is the best defense Iowa has faced all season. LeShaun Daniels and Akrum Wadley will need to find something on the ground. Wisconsin hasn’t seen many physical runners this season, and they did struggle a bit with Ty Issac so maybe Iowa has a chance with their rushing attack.
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