Three stars from Iowa’s dominant win over Wisconsin

Three stars from Iowa football’s dominant win over Wisconsin.

The Iowa Hawkeyes (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) dominated the Wisconsin Badgers (5-4, 3-3 Big Ten) by a resounding 42-10 score from Kinnick Stadium on Saturday.

The victory over the Badgers closes the gap in the all-time series even more, as Wisconsin now leads 49-47-2. Additionally, Iowa improved to 9-10 in the battle for the Heartland Trophy, which has been awarded to the winner between the two programs since 2004.

Under the primetime lights of Kinnick Stadium, the Hawkeyes’ offense exploded for 422 total yards and punter Rhys Dakin pinned the Badgers’ offense deep in their own territory numerous times throughout the night.

With a blowout victory over the Badgers in the books, here are the Hawkeyes’ three stars that aided the team to victory.

Kaleb Johnson

Kaleb Jonson was electric versus Wisconsin by racking up 135 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground. The junior running back was the bell cow Kirk Ferentz went to often to keep the Hawkeyes’ offense in the groove for most of the night.

His first touchdown on the night was highlight reel material as he rumbled into the end zone untouched from the Wisconsin 16-yard line in the second quarter.

The three scores and 135 rushing yards now gives Johnson 20 touchdowns and 1,279 rushing yards on the season.

Brendan Sullivan

Sullivan made his first career start in a Hawkeye uniform on Saturday as fellow quarterback Cade McNamara was unavailable with a concussion.

The junior transfer from Northwestern did not put up flashy numbers by any means but still got the job done when needed.

Sullivan finished the night by throwing for 93 yards and one touchdown on 7-of-10 completed passes. He also rushed for 58 yards and scored a one-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

While the offense funneled through Kaleb Johnson’s stellar rushing night, Sullivan’s performance proved to be a promising sight for Hawkeye fans as McNamara recovers.

Nick Jackson

Iowa’s stout defense held its ground against the Badgers by only allowing 261 yards of offense, but the highlight of the night defensively belonged to linebacker Nick Jackson.

With 4:35 left in the third quarter against a sputtering Badgers offense, Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke’s pass deflected off Jackson’s hands, bounced off his right foot and pinballed off the facemask of defensive lineman Brian Allen into the yawning arms of Jackson again.

Jackson returned the ball 28 yards to the Wisconsin 12-yard line, which led to a Jacob Gill 7-yard score a few plays later.

Along with the interception, Jackson finished with eight tackles.

Iowa will travel out West to Pasadena, Calif., for the next matchup on Friday as they take on Big Ten newcomer UCLA (3-5, 2-4 Big Ten) from the Rose Bowl. The game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. CT start and will air on Fox.

Friday’s game will be the first time since Sept. 18, 1987, that the Hawkeyes and Bruins face off in the Rose Bowl stadium. That game was won by UCLA 47-24.

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