Iowa’s defense forced three turnovers and shut down Wisconsin in a 37-0 Big Ten victory on Saturday night in Madison, Wis.
The Badgers’ turnovers led to 17 points as the Hawkeyes won the Heartland Trophy for the fourth straight year. Kamari Moulton rushed for 96 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown and Xavier Williams added 55 rushing yards and two scores.
The Hawkeyes (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) outrushed the Badgers 210-127 and held a 319-209 edge in total yards.
Bryce Hawthorne and Aaron Graves had first-quarter interceptions for Iowa, and Mark Gronowski completed 17 of 24 passes for 107 yards and an interception.
Iowa’s Drew Stevens connected on field goals of 32, 25 and 49 yards.
Wisconsin’s Hunter Simmons completed eight of 21 passes for 82 yards and two interceptions. Dilin Jones rushed for 69 yards and Ricardo Hallman had an interception for the Badgers (2-4, 0-3). Wisconsin’s offense crossed midfield only four times, with its deepest penetration at the Hawkeyes’ 35-yard line.
After a Stevens field goal opened the scoring, Brian Allen deflected a Simmons’ pass that Hawthorne intercepted. The turnover set up Moulton’s 6-yard touchdown run to put Iowa up 10-0.
On the next Wisconsin drive, Graves returned an interception to the 1-yard line. Gronowski’s quarterback sneak pushed the Iowa lead to 17-0 with 1:30 left in the first quarter. Hallman ended the first quarter with an interception, but Simmons threw a backward pass that Zach Lutmer recovered for a fumble on the next play and the Hawkeyes reclaimed possession.
Stevens’ third field goal of the first half sent Iowa to the locker room with a 23-0 lead. The rout was on when Williams burst through the Badgers’ line for a 29-yard touchdown scamper to put the Hawkeyes up 30-0 with 10:34 left in the third. In the fourth quarter, Williams punched it in with a 19-yard run for a 37-0 lead.
It was the 99th meeting between the longtime rivals. Wisconsin leads 49-48-2.
–Field Level Media
