Iowa star RB ruled out for season ahead of Badgers showdown

The No. 25 Wisconsin Badgers will look to turn the page in their rivalry with the Iowa Hawkeyes, as they’ve been flat-out beaten the last two years, while the losing streak has now extended to four.

In the 2010s, Wisconsin had won seven of the eight matchups between the two sides. However, in this decade, Iowa has won five of the six rivalry games, and remain holders of the Heartland Trophy heading into this weekend.

It was a rough one for the Badgers last year, as they lost 37-0 at home in a demoralizing defeat. The year before, Wisconsin lost 42-10.

Things have changed, though, this season, as the Badgers are now in the AP Top 25 after a win over the USC Trojans at Camp Randall Stadium this past weekend. Iowa, on the other hand, fell out of the Top 25 from No. 15 after a loss to the Minnesota Gophers this weekend.

The Hawkeyes are still favored heading into this one, but Iowa will be without star running back Kamari Moulton, head coach Kirk Ferentz announced. Moulton is out for the season with an upper-body injury.

This season, Moulton had ran for 541 yards and four touchdowns on 6.3 yards per carry. He was averaging 90.2 yards per game prior to suffering the injury against Minnesota.

Now, it had been an up-and-down year for Moulton and the Hawkeyes offense, as he’s been limited to under 60 yards and four yards per carry in four of the team’s six games this year. In the other two against Northern Illinois and Washington, however, Moulton went for 183 yards and two touchdowns, and 208 yards and two touchdowns, respectively.

Iowa will now lean on junior Xavier Williams, who has rushed for 187 yards and three touchdowns this season on 7.5 yards per carry. Much of that production came in Iowa’s win over Northern Iowa, where Williams went for 151 yards and three scores on just six carries.

Outside of that game, he’s rushed for 36 yards on 19 attempts this season.

Last year, when the two sides played, Iowa went for over 200 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Moulton had 96 yards and a touchdown, while Williams had 55 yards and two touchdowns in the 37-0 win.

It’s two different teams this year, but Saturday morning should be a competitive and physical battle nonetheless.