IowaSim21: Iowa vs. Wisconsin

Join us as we follow the great Cody Hills and his #IowaSim21 this season to preview each game as the Hawkeyes work their way through the 2021 schedule.

Since Cody started the #IowaSim in 2013, it is 80-18 in correctly picking the winner of each week's game.

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Wisconsin won the coin toss and chose to defer, so it was the Iowa offense on the field first in the annual Big Ten West battle for the Heartland Trophy.

The Hawkeyes quickly went three and out on their opening possession, so on came punter Tory Taylor who was able to flip the field with a 51-yard punt with no return as Wisconsin took over at their own 24-yard line.

On their first possession, the Badger offense was able to methodically move the ball down the field, eating up the clock and working their way into field goal range. As the first quarter started to wind down on came kicker Collin Larsh for a 36-yard field goal attempt, which was good to give the Badgers an early 3-0 lead.

After the teams traded punts early in the second quarter, the Iowa offense finally started to get things moving and eventually worked their way into field goal range as Caleb Shudak came on and made a 36-yard field goal of his own to tie the score at 3-3 with 1:03 remaining before halftime.

With Wisconsin looking for more points before halftime, it was the Iowa defense that came up big, forcing a quick three and out which was followed by a 29-yard punt, giving the Hawkeyes the ball at midfield with 42 seconds on the clock.

From there, it was back to back completions from quarterback Spencer Petras to wide receiver Keagan Johnson and then a 28-yard touchdown pass to tight end Sam LaPorta as the Hawkeyes took a 10-3 lead after the PAT from Shudak.

That is where the score remained going into the locker room for halftime as it was Iowa Hawkeyes 10, Wisconsin Badgers 3.

In the third quarter, it was Wisconsin to strike first as the Badgers eventually worked their way into field goal position with Iowa's defense continuing to bend but not break, and on came Collin Larsh for a 33-yard field goal attempt which was good to cut Iowa's lead down to 10-6 with 2:27 remaining in the third quarter.

At the end of the third quarter the score remained Iowa 10, Wisconsin 6 in this Big Ten West battle.

In the fourth quarter, it was Iowa's turn to answer back with a field goal of their own as Shudak made a 32-yarder, which pleased Herky and more importantly gave the Hawkeyes a 13-6 lead with just 5:54 remaining.

The Badgers did not take long to respond however, as quarterback Graham Mertz found wide receiver Danny Davis III down the left sideline and he took it into the end zone for Wisconsin's first touchdown of the game. With the PAT from Larsh good, the score was now tied at 13-13 with 3:42 remaining.

On the ensuing kickoff, Iowa returner Charlie Jones was able to get the ball all the way out to the 39-yard line, giving the Hawkeyes good field position to open their drive.

Eventually facing a 3rd and 15, Petras found wide receiver Tyrone Tracy Jr. over the middle as he hauled in an impressive one-handed catch to move Iowa all the way down to the 35-yard line as they neared field goal range.

From there, Iowa went to the ground as they tried to use a little clock and set up a potential game winning field goal. The Hawkeyes were able to move the ball down to the 17-yard line where they faced a 4th and 15 and used a timeout with 18 seconds on the clock.

On came Caleb Shudak, already 2/2 on the day, to try a 34-yard field goal attempt.

The kick was up and it was good from Shudak as the Hawkeyes took a 16-13 lead with just 15 seconds remaining.

Following a touchback, the Badgers got the ball at the 25-yard line with all three timeouts remaining but just 15 seconds on the clock.

Now it was time for the Iowa defense to close things out and that is just what they did as defensive end Joe Evans sacked Mertz and the clock ran out with the Hawkeyes winning 16-13.

Caleb Shudak was named player of the game after his 3/3 performance and game winning kick in the final seconds on the road at Camp Randall in Madison.

Final score: Iowa 16, Wisconsin 13.