Two years ago my fiancé and I packed our car and ventured from Des Moines to Madison for Iowa's last game at Camp Randall Stadium.
The drive was decent and the Hawkeye Huddle the night before the game was fun.
The tailgating was a blast as Madison was and is always a pretty good time.
Until it wasn't.
The worst part of the trip was an insane case of food poisoning we both got from a restaurant (which shall remain nameless) just off of campus following the contest which led to the two of us spending Saturday night trading turns crawling into the bathroom and spending hours writhing around on our hotel room floor.
The second worst occurred hours earlier when Nate Stanley was stuffed by a couple of inches on a two-point conversion attempt with 3:12 left to seal the Hawkeyes' 24-22 loss.
The gut-wrenching defeat put the final nail in the coffin for Iowa in 2019 as the loss dropped them from Big Ten West division contention with three weeks remaining in the season. It was a precipitous fall for an Iowa team that started 4-0 and had all the makings of a Big Ten title contender and who lost by only seven at Michigan and five against Penn State at home before that trip up north.
The defeat marked Iowa's second straight loss in Madison and the program's fourth-straight season in which it failed to win the division and reach Indianapolis with a shot at winning the Big Ten title which, for all of our other dreams and aspirations, remains the most realistic and main goal. The drought grew to five despite last season's 6-2 COVID-jamboree—including a rather cathartic 28-7 Hawkeye victory over Wisconsin in Iowa City that wasn't even that close.
And so here Iowa is, facing another crucial trip to Wisconsin with a hell of a lot on the line. It's important to realize what exactly is on the line, though.
Thanks to the Badgers' 30-13 win at Purdue a week ago the Hawkeyes control their own destiny in the Big Ten West and, yes, an Iowa loss doesn't necessarily knock them out of the division race. In fact, with the way Big Ten West teams have performed this season I wouldn't be surprised if the Hawkeyes lose Saturday and still reach Indianapolis.
But while we would all gladly take that, I don't find that route particularly attractive or, frankly, acceptable. No, what Saturday's game will really determine is whether or not this Iowa team can reach the Big Ten Championship Game and actually have a legitimate shot at winning the trophy.
Because winning things is what this whole college football thing is all about.
The Hawkeyes' last victory in Madison didn't instill much conference title confidence as much as it did build the notion that the 2015 season could, if everything fell the right way, be a very special season.
The lone touchdown of the game came courtesy of a 1-yard pass from C.J. Beathard to tight end legend George Kittle and put Iowa up 7-3 late in the first half. The score was set up thanks in part to Desmond King's second interception in the first half off of Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave.
The victory in Madison pushed Iowa to 5-0 in what would eventually become a perfect 12-0 regular season campaign. Still, there was never (at least to me) a firm belief that the 2015 Hawkeyes could realistically win the Big Ten title and reach the College Football Playoff until Michigan State upset Ohio State in Columbus in November, knocking the Buckeyes out of title contention and putting Iowa and the Spartans on a collision course for Indianapolis.
The 2021 Hawkeyes have felt like the 2015 team at times, but until their homecoming debacle against Purdue it has actually felt like this year's outfit is capable of accomplishing much more than that 12-0 squad. Thus, Iowa is at a crisis of confidence with most of the fanbase (which I'm sure the players don't really care about) and a strong, victorious performance at Wisconsin would go a long way into putting the Hawkeyes back in that "they could win this whole thing" conversation.
On Saturday, Iowa could use a performance similar to what the 2009 team put on in Madison. The Hawkeyes trailed 10-0 before rallying for 20 straight points on the back of Derrell Johnson-Koulianos' 113 receiving yards on eight receptions as well an uber-efficient 17/23, 218-yard and one touchdown day by Ricky Stanzi.
Stanzi's lone touchdown came on a 24-yard strike to tight end Tony Moeaki early in the third quarter, evening the score at 10-10 before Adam Robinson scampered for a 10 yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to put Iowa up for good.
The 20-point rally wouldn't have been possible if not for a Hawkeye defense that held the Badgers to 87 yards rushing and picked off quarterback Scott Tolzien three times. Daniel Murray would finish the job in a very "Iowa" fashion by hitting a clutch 48-yard field goal with just under 5:30 remaining.
Iowa wouldn't win another game in Camp Randall Stadium for another six years, breaking the skid in 2015. If you're doing the math correctly, you'll notice that, come Saturday, the Hawkeyes' last win at Wisconsin will have been, once again, six years ago.
Symmetry thy name is please Hawkeyes beat the Badgers.
If you're looking to draw off of any historical trends or figures to make yourself feel better about this weekend, I suggest you probably do something else. Iowa is coming off of a bye which, let's just say, hasn't been the best spot for the program under Kirk Ferentz:
Iowa is 2-10 SU and 4-8 ATS their last 12 games on the road after a bye.
— BiggerTen (@BiggerTen) October 25, 2021
Wisconsin is 10-11 SU and 10-11 ATS their last 21 as a home favorite of -5 or less.
This is the smallest margin Wisconsin has been favored by at home against Iowa since '09 (-2), a game Iowa won 20-10.
The Hawkeyes are 3-3 following a bye since 2015, going 1-1 two years ago (they had two byes), the first one a victory over Middle Tennessee State in September.
The second was the Hawkeyes' last trip to Wisconsin.
A trip that fell a few excruciating feet short from being tied late in the fourth quarter.
And so, once again, I'll be making the four and a half hour journey from Des Moines to Madison this weekend hoping the Hawkeyes find a way to get out of America's Dairyland with a win. For this program to truly move forward, Iowa would be wise to 1) win and 2) do so in a way that will make us all believe this team can challenge for the Big Ten Championship come early December in Indianapolis.
It'll be a special trip for myself as this is a very, very personal game to me. No, I don't personally know anyone who goes to school at Wisconsin or went to school at Wisconsin or is even a fan of Wisconsin.
I simply dislike the Badger program, their school, their bad "Motion W" logo, their overrated stadium, their "aw shucks" arrogant fans, and, especially, their stupid "Jump Around."
There is nothing I hate more than the Badgers except maybe that restaurant we visited up there two years ago. And I sure as hell don't intend on going back there this weekend.
Then again, ask me if I'd accept another night of violent food poisoning in a hotel room outside of Madison in exchange for an Iowa victory over Wisconsin and well. . .
#GOIOWAAWESOME
