They offered about as much resistance as the hapless Badgers defense.
Greene ran for a career-high 217 yards and four touchdowns as Iowa reclaimed the Heartland Trophy and got a confidence-building win heading into the bye week.
“Our offensive line dominated today,” Greene said. “It was a physical game. I knew it was going to be physical, but to be honest, I thought it would be harder than that.”
With scoring runs of 12, 34, 52 and 34 yards, Greene showcased the skills that are slowly but surely thrusting his name into the Heisman Trophy conversation. The junior from Sicklerville, N.J., went over 100 yards for the eighth straight game. On the season, he now has carried 177 times for 1,154 yards and 10 touchdowns, an average of 144.2 yards a game and 6.5 yards a carry.
“Shonn is an amazing player,” Iowa defensive tackle Mitch King said. “Any time he gets the ball in his hands, it could be six points for our team. That’s great having a player like that. We haven’t had a player like that since Drew Tate.”
“I’m so happy he’s on our team,” linebacker Pat Angerer added, “because I wouldn’t want to be tackling him. He’s a stud.”
Greene ran over, through, around and past the Badgers’ defenders. On his second touchdown run, a 34-yarder that put Iowa (5-3, 2-2 Big Ten) up 14-0 midway though the second quarter, he broke away down the right sideline, spun out of a tackle at the 15 and stepped out of another at the 10.
After Wisconsin cut the lead to 14-9 midway through the third quarter, Greene struck again. He took a handoff on a draw, found a crease and outran the Wisconsin secondary for a 52-yard score.
Not bad for a guy who did not play or practice football last season because he was away at junior college mending his academics.
“Shonn has been giving us a spark all season long,” coach Kirk Ferentz said. “He’s a good story, a good story. He’s come the hard road.”
Greene outplayed Wisconsin’s P.J. Hill, who missed the second half because of an ankle injury. Freshman John Clay led the Badgers (3-4, 0-4) with 89 yards on 16 carries.
Despite his success, Greene is uncomfortable hearing his name mentioned in the same breath as the Heisman. He deflects credit to his offensive linemen, who hardly missed a beat Saturday without starting right guard Seth Olsen, who was out with a severely sprained ankle.
“I don’t know about all that,” Greene said of the Heisman talk. “I’ll let Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso talk about all that.”
Greene says he still needs to improve. He says there’s more he can do.
More than 217 yards and four touchdowns? Like what?
“Ah, 317 yards and five touchdowns,” Greene said. “You’ve just got to keep going with it. The season’s not over. We’re just going to keep on hammering away.”
BY THE NUMBERS
8.7 ... Yard-per-carry average for Iowa’s Shonn Greene, who posted career highs with 217 yards and four touchdowns.
16 ... Tackles by linebacker Pat Angerer, a Bettendorf grad. He also had two interceptions.
10 ... Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said there were several plays during Saturday’s game when only 10 Badgers players were on the field, including the punt that Iowa’s Paki O’Meara broke through and blocked.
FIVE PLAYS THAT CHANGED THE GAME
Hawkeyes set tone early
After starting the game on defense, the Hawkeyes set the tone early with a seven-play, 70-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead. Shonn Greene carried five times for 40 yards, and Ricky Stanzi completed both of his passes for 30 yards. Greene capped the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run, hesitating in the line before bouncing outside and strolling into the end zone.
Greene strikes again
With Iowa leading 7-0 midway through the second quarter, Greene took a carry off the right side, broke through a huge hole in the line and sprinted down the sideline. He spun out of a tackle attempt by Wisconsin safety Chris Maragos at the 15 and then stepped out of another by safety Jay Valai at the 10. Greene went over 1,000 yards for the season on the run and gave Iowa a 14-0 lead.
Wisconsin steals momentum
Iowa’s offense stalled a bit from the middle of the second quarter to the middle of the third, going three-and-out on four straight possessions. In that time, Wisconsin got three field goals from freshman Phillip Welch — from 42, 40 and 35 yards — to cut the Hawkeyes’ lead to 14-9.
Greene flashes his speed
With the Hawkeyes teetering and the Badgers threatening to make it a game midway through the third quarter, Greene put things out of reach with an emphatic run. He took a handoff on a draw play and sprinted past a blitzing safety and the rest of the secondary for a 52-yard score. That gave Iowa a 21-9 lead, and what was a close game turned into a rout.
O’Meara’s punt block leads to score
Late in the third quarter, Iowa forced Wisconsin to punt from its own 21-yard line. There was a penalty called on the first kick, so the Badgers had to try it again. They ended up with only 10 players on the field, and Paki O’Meara took advantage. In his first game back since suffering a knee injury in Week 4, O’Meara broke through and blocked Brad Nortman’s punt. Iowa took over at the 33, and four plays later, Stanzi hooked up with tight end Allen Reisner for a 16-yard touchdown. Reisner made a one-handed catch on the play and got a key block from fellow end Brandon Myers on his way to the end zone and 28-9 Iowa lead.
STAR OF THE GAME
Shonn Greene, Iowa running back
To think, back in 2006, when the Hawkeyes were preparing for the Alamo Bowl, the coaching staff had Shonn Greene working out at safety.
“I guess they needed some guys back there,” Greene said Saturday. “Coach talked to me, and I said sure. It didn’t work out, though.”
Coach Kirk Ferentz joked about it, too, after Iowa’s 38-16 win over Wisconsin.
“That was real good coaching,” he said. “Right up there with having Dallas Clark at third-string outside linebacker.”
Greene had his best day as a Hawkeye Saturday, running for 217 yards and four touchdowns. The 5-foot-11, 235-pound junior is showing he can do just about anything with the football in his hands.
FROM THE BADGERS’ LOCKER ROOM
“We need to get better at something, because right now, we’re not very good in all areas of the game, and that, obviously, puts us in a position where the team that’s really beating Wisconsin is Wisconsin.” — coach Bret Bielema
SCORING SUMMARY
First quarterIOWA — Shonn Greene 12 run (Trent Mossbrucker kick), 8:30. Drive: 7 plays, 70 yards, 3:33. Key play: Greene had five carries for 40 yards on the drive. Score: Iowa 7, Wisconsin 0.
Second quarterIOWA — Greene 34 run (Mossbrucker kick), 8:06. Drive: 2 plays, 57 yards, :54. Key play: Pass interference penalty that got Iowa to the UW 42. Score: Iowa 14, Wisconsin 0.
WISCONSIN — Phillip Welch 42 field goal, :59. Drive: Key play: Dustin Sherer 20-yard pass to Travis Beckum down to Iowa’s 27. Score: Iowa 14, Wisconsin 3.
Third quarter
WISCONSIN — Welch 40 field goal, 10:01. Drive: 5 plays, 29 yards, 3:06. Key play: John Clay 21-yard run down to Iowa 31. Score: Iowa 14, Wisconsin 6.
WISCONSIN — Welch 35 field goal, 6:15. Drive: 6 plays, 37 yards, 2:47. Key play: Dustin Sherer two passes to Isaac Anderson for 35 yards. Score: Iowa 14, Wisconsin 9.
IOWA — Greene 52 run (Mossbrucker kick), 5:06. Drive: Key play: Score: Iowa 21, Wisconsin 9.
IOWA — Allen Reisner 16 pass from Ricky Stanzi (Mossbrucker kick), 1:38. Drive: 4 plays, 33 yards, 1:28. Key play: Blocked punt by Paki O’Meara to give Iowa the ball at Wisconsin’s 33. Score: Iowa 28, Wisconsin 9.
Fourth quarter
IOWA — Greene 34 run (Mossbrucker kick), 9:18. Drive: 4 plays, 48 yards, 2:14. Key play: Greene carried four times for 48 yards on drive. Score: Iowa 35, Wisconsin 9.
IOWA — Mossbrucker 35 field goal, 5:23. Drive: 5 plays, 19 yards, 2:40. Key play: Pat Angerer interception to give Iowa the ball at UW’s 37. Score: Iowa 38, Wisconsin 9.
WISCONSIN — Zach Brown 21 run (Welch kick), 4:24. Drive: 4 plays, 60 yards, :59. Key play: Scott Tolzien pass to David Gilreath for 33 yards to the Iowa 27. Score: Iowa 38, Wisconsin 16.
Contact Eric Page at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com.
Comments
Craig wrote on Oct 19, 2008 3:56 PM:
" How fitting it would have been for one the Hawks to march up to Coach Bielema and thank him for the opportunity to kick his teams butt. It would've been nice to see how Bielema handled being on the other end of that comment.
Ferentz is over paid, but I like him at Iowa because he is a class act, stand up guy, or one of many other positive adjectives. Ferentz isn't afraid to give the other teams credit no matter how bad his own team has played. "
Ferentz is over paid, but I like him at Iowa because he is a class act, stand up guy, or one of many other positive adjectives. Ferentz isn't afraid to give the other teams credit no matter how bad his own team has played. "
Ethan Mundy wrote on Oct 19, 2008 7:06 PM: