By james art 
Iowa 42, Wisconsin 10: The Hawkeyes punish the Badgers on the ground
IOWA CITY — Iowa’s offensive line powered Wisconsin up and down the field Saturday night, leading to a 42-10 victory and taking home the Heartland Trophy.
The entire performance can be encapsulated by one particular drive for the Hawkeyes.
On the first possession of the third quarter, Iowa’s offense took a fateful 10-play, 86-yard drive over 5:34 for a touchdown. Every single play was a run and seven carries went for seven or more yards.
“If it works, you stay with it,” Kirk Ferentz said after the match. “We got into a pretty good rhythm and Tim (Leicester) called a great game. Everything really complemented each other.”
That drive was where quarterback Brendan Sullivan could feel the floodgates opening for the Hokies.
“When the defense knows what you’re going to do and you still do it at a high level, that’s really cool,” he said. “It definitely gives the whole offense and the whole sideline a huge boost. It was just a lot of fun to be a part of and luckily I had a few runs on that as well so it was a lot of fun. “
In total, the Hawkeyes outgained the Badgers 329 yards to 124, nearly tripling Wisconsin’s effort. Everything on the field starts and ends with the offensive line for the Hawkeyes.
“It’s just fun to be a part of an offensive line like that that just doesn’t give up,” Sullivan added. “They will always give their best. It’s fun to get back out there and just trust them because I know they’ve got my back and I’ve got theirs.”
Caleb Johnson, who led the team with 135 rushing yards and three scores, also had fun behind the big boys.
“It’s great [when the offensive line gets push]man,” he said. “Our relationship just keeps building and bonding. So, I love these guys, man. They just work their tails off every day.”
Starting right guard Connor Colby could also see it all come together as the game wore on, giving at least some of the merits of the running backs.
“I think guys block hard up front and the running backs hit the holes hard,” he said. “At the end of the day, that affects the defense and that’s how we get longer runs.”
While that performance didn’t happen overnight, Ferentz seemed a little surprised at how well things came together.
“I didn’t expect this thing to happen tonight,” he said. “Sometimes it just happens when things start to click a little bit. We just have to give credit to our guys because they really came in ready to go.”
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One of the best running backs in all of college football, Johnson is starting to enter a rarefied atmosphere thanks to what he and the Hawkeyes have been able to do on the field. After his third score of the night, Johnson tied Sean Greene’s single-season school record for touchdowns.
“It’s an honor for me [to be in the same conversation as Greene]” said Johnson, who recently linked up with the former Doak Walker Award winner in Iowa City. “He said, ‘I know you can break my record.’ He said, ‘Just go and do it,’ and things like that. So I just kept my head down, remembered what he said and just kept going.”
Ferentz believes that forward-looking mentality is what has gotten Johnson to this point.
“The thing I’m most impressed with is the approach, the maturity with which he’s playing right now, practicing with,” Ferentz said. “He’s been like that all week.”
“He’s hard to take down. He doesn’t go down with a hand strike,” Ferentz added. “Credit to him. He’s really decided to use what he’s got. I think he’s enjoying it. … He’s staying so focused right now. It’s a real credit to him.”
The numbers the Hamilton, Ohio native has put up so far this season — 170 carries for 1,279 yards and 20 total touchdowns — put him on the fringes of the Heisman conversation. Johnson isn’t quite ready to throw his name in the hat just yet — at least not in front of the local media.
“I’m a modest person,” he smiled. “So what gets out there goes and what’s said is said. My focus is just to help my team win and just be successful with my team.”
Ferentz also hadn’t thought about the talk surrounding Johnson and the nation’s MVP award. However, he was willing to say he would go all-in to back the Big Ten’s leading player for the trophy.
“We haven’t been too worried about it,” Ferentz said. “I imagine he’ll be in the conversation at some point if he keeps doing what he’s doing. We will promote it as best we can, just as we would anyone who does great work. It’s a team thing if it happens. Caleb will be the first person to say so.”
Sullivan, on the other hand, hasn’t been shy about his thoughts on Johnson’s play so far this season.
“I think he should be a Heisman finalist,” he said. “The way he’s been playing, the way he’s been playing all season has been really consistent. And so, in my opinion, he should be a Heisman finalist.”
Sullivan, Kamari Moulton, and Jazeun Patterson combined for 28 carries for 188 yards to share the load with Johnson.
“All three [running backs] it went well tonight,” Ferentz said. “They’re a good combination. Jaziun was hitting him hard. Kamari has the quick burst there. They’re playing pretty well.”
Johnson, who is clearly the bell cow of the group, is happy to see the whole unit succeed.
“It was great to see them, especially Kamari,” he said. He just came in, he’s a new guy in the RB room. … So it’s pretty cool, just to tell him, just keep being tough with him. I was hard on the Jazz, too, because they could be great, too.”
Johnson was Patterson’s roommate when they arrived at Iowa as freshmen in 2022. He was the first teammate on the sideline to congratulate Patterson after he scored a four-yard touchdown with 1:15 left in the contest.
“We’ve been close since freshman year,” he said. “Him and I and the bond we all have together, including the coach (Ladell) Bettsthe whole RB room, we’re just very connected. We treat each other like brothers, so it’s great.”