Iowa football 2025 schedule preview: Week 7 vs Wisconsin

USA Today

2 days ago

Coming off a bye in week 6, Iowa will head on the road for its second trophy game of the season: a matchup with the Wisconsin Badgers for the Heartland Trophy.
Traditionally, whenever the Hawkeyes and Badgers got together on the gridiron, you could expect a hard-nosed, physical battle where whoever won the line of scrimmage won the game. However, it's a new era in Madison, and Wisconsin has changed the way it plays football drastically over the past few years.
After the departure of Paul Chryst during the 2022 season, the Badgers hired former Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell to run their program. Fickell had a lot of success with the Bearcats, including leading them to a College Football Playoff appearance in 2021. Fickell brought a winning culture and a new brand of offense with him to Madison: the Air Raid.
Gone are the days of Jonathan Taylor, Melvin Gordon, and Montee Ball running for 2000 yards in a season. The Air Raid aims to spread out opposing defenses and put a lot of pressure on them through the passing game. It works great if you have the quarterback and receivers to play in that system, which the Badgers haven't had the past few years. The Badgers' starting QBs the past two seasons have a combined 4002 passing yards with a 22/14 TD to INT ratio.
The failure of the Air Raid offense has led to a couple of middling seasons under Fickell, going 7-6 with a bowl game loss in 2023 and 5-7 in 2024. The defense wasn't much better, forcing just eight turnovers last season. Now entering year three and with another new QB in town, the pressure is on for Fickell to win. Another bad season could result in major changes for the program. With all that being said, let's take a deep dive into Wisconsin in 2025 by talking about some key returners and exciting newcomers for the Badgers.
Who are some of the key returners for Wisconsin?
Who are some exciting newcomers for the Badgers?
History between Iowa and Wisconsin
Wisconsin leads the all-time series against Iowa 49-47-2. The Hawkeyes have won the last three in a row and four of the last five against the Badgers this decade. Before that run, Wisconsin had won seven of eight against Iowa in the 2010s. And before that, Iowa had won six out of eight in the 2000s. This series has been a pendulum, with both sides enjoying an extended run of success against the other. The Hawkeyes will look to keep their momentum against Wisconsin with another win.
The Hawkeys won the last meeting in Madison 15-6 back in 2023. Before that victory, their last win in Madison was back in 2015, when they won 10-6 en route to a 12-0 regular season.
This is a big game for Iowa, sandwiched between matchups with playoff teams from last season in Indiana and Penn State. Going on the road to Madison is tough, and Wisconsin will look to improve a lot this season. The Hawkeyes will need to play their best road game to come away with the Heartland Trophy for a fourth straight season.
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