Iowa football 2025 schedule preview: Week 7 vs Wisconsin
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.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Zach on X: @zach_hiney
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
13 minutes ago
- USA Today
LSU football legend Marcus Spears makes bolds statement about Brian Kelly's future
Expectations are high for LSU football in 2025. And with high expectations comes pressure. LSU head coach Brian Kelly is entering year four with the program. His tenure so far includes two 10-win seasons, but he's yet to lead LSU to a College Football Playoff. LSU signed the No. 1-ranked transfer class and retained quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. This is a talented roster and it was good enough to earn LSU a top-10 ranking in the initial coaches' poll. The hype train is rolling and former LSU football star Marcus Spears knows what that means for Kelly. "If you don't win big, if you're Brian Kelly, this fan base is done. And I'm just telling you, the wins and the success and all of the things, going to the SEC championship, your first year was great, but people still didn't feel like that was a big time accomplishment based on how it happened," Marcus Spears said. Spears referred to 2022, where LSU won the SEC West but was out of the playoff discussion thanks to a 9-3 regular season record. "This year, you see all of the transfers, you see the recruiting class, Garrett Nussmeier in the preseason Heisman conversation," Spears said, "All of those things in the past at LSU has aligned with them having big seasons." Spears said if LSU doesn't make the playoff, the fan base "is going to turn quickly on Brian Kelly." Spears' comments won't be news to Kelly. Every man who has held the head coaching position at LSU is familiar with the pressure. Ed Orgeron didn't shy away from talking about it during his tenure. Neither has Kelly. What are LSU football's odds of making the College Football Playoff? BetMGM odds as of Tuesday, August 5. LSU to make the College Football Playoff LSU football 2025 schedule
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
CBS Sports reveals hilarious recent Iowa football betting trend
It's no secret that over the past five years, Iowa's offense has been the butt of many jokes. Whether it's winning a game 7-3 against an FCS school without scoring a touchdown or the numerous offensive shortcomings against great teams, the Hawkeyes' offense has become an easy target for fans and media alike. They saw a big improvement last season under Tim Lester, and Iowa fans are hoping for another jump in 2025. If that happens, sports books will have to alter their betting lines drastically for Iowa games. CBS Sports released an article on Friday talking about the teams that routinely hit their over and the ones that hit the under the most over the past three seasons. And in doing so, they brought up a hilarious fact when it comes to Iowa football and their over/under number. It's no surprise that Iowa has hit the under in 59.5% of its games the past three seasons. They're 15-22 on the over/under since 2022, the tenth-worst record in the country. This is especially bad given how comically low some of the over/unders have been for Iowa football in that stretch. I mean, just take a look at this tweet from before the Iowa vs Nebraska game in 2023. And yes, if you're wondering, the under still hit in that game when Iowa won 13-10. However, 2024 saw improvement from Iowa when it came to hitting overs. Iowa football games hit the over nine times last season, a testament to a much-improved offense under Lester, and some sports books still giving Iowa games extremely low over/unders. CBS Sports explained it well. Easily my favorite part of this list is that Iowa is still hovering around 60% to the under for the last three years despite going over in nine (9!) games last season. That wasn't because Iowa's offense somehow became an unstoppable juggernaut, but it's a perfect example of sportsbooks overcorrecting so hard to getting killed by Iowa unders for the past two seasons that they routinely put Iowa totals in the 30s last year. -CBS Sports. Heading into the 2025 season and beyond, Iowa fans are hoping that the offense will stop being a national joke and continue to take big steps forward. And maybe the sports books will set the over/under in the 40s for future Iowa games. Regardless, it's crazy how many games Iowa has won the past three years, given their offensive struggles. Phil Parker deserves a statue for the work his defense did during that stretch. Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Zach on X: @zach_hiney
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ride along: Wallace's late-race charge to top-10 finish
Ride along with the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota driven by Bubba Wallace as the Brickyard 400 winner gallops through the field to finish sixth at Iowa Speedway.
