GAME NOTES: Wisconsin 27, No. 9 Iowa 7

Quotes from postgame media availability

• Head coach Paul Chryst on the defense’s performance.

“I thought our defense was tremendous in so many ways early did a really good job getting some takeaways, I thought that the stop on fourth down was big and we were able to follow it up with a touchdown drive.”

• Chryst on the grit Wisconsin has shown on defense.

“I think you have to be (gritty), and we’ll continue to needing to be that,” Chryst said. “I think there’s a lot of things right now, I think it’s a team that really does care about each other, I think to play this game you have to have some true grit and true commitment to each other and I think they have that.”

• Chryst on the team’s turnaround since starting the season 1-3.

“I think that each week is a different week, different set of challenges, but I think the one thing that has stayed constant is their approach, and that as a coach, you appreciate,” Chryst said. “I think that all season long our defense has been playing at a really high level and its been fun to see it be challenged in different ways, but still really the results have been impressive and that will continue, we’re ready to keep going.”

• Isaiah Mullens on the win.

“We knew as a defense and really as a whole team that it was going to be a dog fight and this week we really came together,” Mullens said. “We did our job, we did what we were supposed to do, but it feels good to get a win, but obviously we’ve still gotta move forward.”

• Leo Chenal on Nick Herbig, who recorded 2.5 sacks in the win.

“You know Herbie, he’s got that mentality you know, where you look at guys like Kobe (Bryant),” Chenal said. “Just seeing him at practice the way we talks, his love of the game, he’s got a crazy good mentality, one of the toughest guys mentally that I know, he’s gonna step up in big moments.”

Photo by Dan Sanger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

• Nick Herbig on his strip sack.

“I came around the edge and I was trying to bend it tight, but their quarterback is really good and he felt the pressence, so he stepped up,” Herbig said. “My coach always talks about going for the ball when we come around the edge, because you know we want strip sacks and not just sacks, so I saw the ball, I saw an opportunity and I took it.”

• Graham Mertz on the defense setting the offense up for success.

“We would like to capitalize on a couple more of those,” Mertz said. “We’ll take a look back and get those corrected, but they once again, put us in a great spot, so appreciate those guys.”

• Mertz on the team’s attitude since the 1-3 start.

“A lot of people counted us out, and everybody in the locker room, that never even crossed our minds, we knew we had a long season ahead and in the end it all comes down to just work,” Mertz said. “And if you can do it consistently, do it every day and get better every day and we’re going to keep doing that.”

Game Notes, courtesy of the UW Athletic Department

TEAM NOTES

• Today’s captains: senior TE Jake Ferguson, senior CB Faion Hicks and senior ILB Jack Sanborn.
• Today’s attendance: 74,209
• Paul Chryst improved to 61-22 (.735) in his seventh season as Wisconsin’s head coach, ranking No. 4 on UW’s all-time wins list and the fourth coach in school history to win 60 games:

WINS AS WISCONSIN COACH, ALL-TIME

Coach (Years) Wins

1. Barry Alvarez (1990-2005)* 119

2. Bret Bielema (2006-12) 68

3. Phil King (1896-1902, ‘05) 65

4. Paul Chryst (2015-present) 61

5. Milt Bruhn (1956-66) 52

* Also served as coach in two bowl games (2012, 2014)

Under Chryst, Wisconsin is:

5-2 (.714) vs. Iowa

30-7 (.811) vs. the Big Ten West Division

40-15 (.727) in Big Ten Conference play

34-8 (.810) at Camp Randall Stadium

• In beating No. 9 Iowa, Wisconsin tallied its first top-10 win since defeating No. 9 Minnesota, 38-17, on Nov. 30, 2019.
• The Badgers won their second consecutive game over an AP Top 25 team, their first back-to-back wins over ranked opponents since downing No. 18 Iowa and No. 9 Minnesota in November of 2019.
• The last time UW defeated ranked opponents in consecutive weeks came in wins over No. 25 Iowa (Nov. 11) and No. 19 Michigan (Nov. 18) in the 2017 season.
• Wisconsin has won eight of their last 10 meetings with Iowa, dating to 2010, including three straight victories over the Hawkeyes at Camp Randall Stadium.
• The Badgers improved its lead in the all-time series with the Hawkeyes to 49-44-2.

• UW owns a 10-6 lead in the all-time series since the debut of the Heartland Trophy in 2004.
• The Badgers have won 24 of their last 27 games with a traveling trophy on the line vs. Iowa (Heartland Trophy), Minnesota (Paul Bunyan’s Axe) and Nebraska (Freedom Trophy).
• UW is now 34-8 against the Big Ten West since the Conference realignment in 2014. The Badgers’ .810 win percentage against the West is tops in the conference. Iowa is second at .636 (28-16).
• Wisconsin held Iowa scoreless in the first half, holding the Hawkeyes to 17 total yards on 23 plays (0.7 average). UW limited Iowa to -13 rushing yards, 30 passing yards, a single first down and a 1-for-7 mark on 3rd down conversions.
• For the second-straight game, the Badgers defense racked up 10 tackles for loss and 6.0 sacks on the day.
• On the year, UW is averaging 7.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks per game on the season.
• UW’s 6.0 sacks was the team’s highest total against Iowa since at least 1997.
• The Badgers registered three takeaways and have totaled eight in the last two games. UW had just four in the first six games.

Photo by Dan Sanger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

• UW had zero turnovers on offense, giving the Badgers a +3 turnover margin. Over the last two games, UW is +6 in TO margin.
• During their four-game win streak, the Badgers have allowed an average of 7.5 points per game and 180.3 yards per game.
• UW limited Iowa to a season-low 24 yards rushing. That is the fewest the Badgers have surrendered to the Hawkeyes since at least 1997.
• With 27 points, Wisconsin snapped Iowa’s streak of 29 consecutive games holding its opponent to 24 points or fewer, the longest active streak among Power Five teams.
• Wisconsin rushed for 166 yards (Iowa’s highest total allowed this season entering the game was 107 vs. Penn State).
• During their four-game win streak, the Badgers are averaging 261.3 rushing yards per game.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Sophomore QB Graham Mertz completed 11-of-22 passes for 104 yards with one TD and zero interceptions.
• Mertz also scored a pair of one-yard rushing touchdowns. He now has six career rushing TDs, including four this season.
• Freshman RB Braelon Allen rushed for 104 yards on a career-high 20 carries for an average of 5.2 ypc. He has now eclipsed 100 yards rushing in four consecutive games.

Photo by Lawrence Iles/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

• Over UW’s four-game win streak, Allen is averaging 120.8 rushing yards per game (7.3 ypc).
• Senior WR Danny Davis hauled in a game-high five passes for 59 yards, his highest output since facing Notre Dame in game three.
• Senior TE Jake Ferguson had three catches for 13 yards with one touchdown grab.
• Ferguson’s four-yard touchdown catch to open the scoring in the first quarter marked his first TD reception since the Badgers’ win at Michigan on Nov. 14, 2020.
• Ferguson has caught at least one pass in each of his 42 career games, a school record that surpassed WR Lee Evans’ mark for consecutive games with a catch (38, 1999-2003) and extending the nation’s second-longest active streak:

CONSEC. GAMES WITH RECEPTION, FBS (ACTIVE)

1. Justin Hall, Ball State *51

2. Jake Ferguson, Wisconsin *42

3. JD Spielman, TCU *40

4. Emeka Emezie, NC State (WR) 39

5. Jahan Dotson, Penn State (WR) 36

* Every game played in career

• Ferguson’s 1,383 receiving yards place him 20th on UW’s career list, and 5th among tight ends all-time at Wisconsin:

CAREER RECEIVING YARDS, TIGHT ENDS (UW)

Rk. Player Years Yards

5. Travis Beckum 2006-08 2,149

13. Troy Fumagalli 2014-17 1,627

16. Garrett Graham 2006-09 1,492

19. Jacob Pedersen 2010-13 1,394

22. Jake Ferguson 2017-pres. 1,383

25. Lance Kendricks 2007-10 1,160

• Junior ILB Leo Chenal led Wisconsin with nine tackles, including two TFLs and 0.5 sack.
• In his last three games, Chenal is averaging 11.7 tackles, 3.3 TFLs and 1.7 sacks per game.
• On the season, Chenal leads the Badgers with 60 tackles, 11.5 TFLs and is second on the team with 5.5 sacks.

Photo by Dan Sanger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

• Sophomore OLB Nick Herbig posted six tackles with a career-high 2.5 sacks. He also recorded his first-career forced fumble.
• Herbig now has a team-high 6.0 sacks on the year.
• Senior ILB Jack Sanborn finished with seven tackles, adding 1.5 TFLs and 0.5 sacks. Sanborn ranks second on the team with nine TFLs.
• Senior OLB Noah Burks notched three tackles with two coming for loss. He now has 6.5 TFLs on the season.
• Senior K Collin Larsh connected on both of his field goal attempts, booting one from 29 yards and one from 32 yards in the second quarter.
• Larsh is now 12-for-13 since having his first attempt of the season blocked in the opener vs. Penn State

And here is this from Collin Wilder: