3 Bold Predictions for Iowa Football vs. Wisconsin in the Battle for the Heartland

While the Floyd of Rosedale slipped out of the Iowa Hawkeyes' grasp, another trophy is on the line this week when the Wisconsin Badgers come to Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. The Battle for the Heartland trophy is going to be up for grabs.

Iowa has dominated the Badgers for the last two seasons in two blowout wins, but this year looks like it will be a different type of game. These teams mirror each other quite well. Both play good defense, want to run the ball, and are winning games. It figures to be a four-quarter battle in this rivalry.

Iowa holds Wisconsin under 150 yards passing

This is a day when Iowa's secondary can shine, as we have seen in so many previous seasons. The group looks strong, led by Zach Lutmer. Outside, Jaylen Watson and Deshaun Lee are playing at a really high level, while Xavier Styles is growing each week at safety.

Phil Parker is going to have Iowa containing Colton Joseph in the pocket, forcing him to beat Iowa with his arm. If Iowa can corral him and make him make tight-window throws all game, it's going to be a long day of incompletions and potentially some turnovers.

DJ Vonnahme leads Iowa's passing game

My gut tells me that Iowa's offense is going to have a very "2024" feel to it, like it did with Kaleb Johnson and all of the under-center zone runs. This is where DJ Vonnahme can feast. He can be the easy, big target for Hank Brown off of heavy play-action when the defense starts to flow.

Iowa should look to Vonnahme early and often to get him the ball and set him up to run after the catch. When found in passing situations, I really like DJ Vonnahme down the seam. He can run and carry this route, plus he has the feel to find green grass between the linebackers and safeties.

Iowa averages more yards per rush than Wisconsin

Hear me out for one second - neither run game is going to be overly pretty in this game. Just prepare yourselves for that. These defenses are going to commit so many resources to stopping the run that even if responsibilities are messed up, there will be backup on standby to clean up the mess.

I think Iowa's defense is going to eliminate much of the success for Wisconsin by containing Colton Joseph, which is a specialty of Phil Parker, and therefore force the backs to make something happen. Iowa can stop the run in its base defense, which it should be in for most of this game.

Offensively, it won't be pretty for Iowa, but I think the Hawkeyes have a spirited run game that converts some ugly short-yardage plays and stays patient enough to get a few chunks from the running back room. It will take time, but Iowa's run game gets going just enough in this one.

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