Luke Fickell calls Iowa toughness 'incredibly noticeable'

Wisconsin had a halftime lead over No. 3 ranked Penn State before the Nittany Lions rallied in the second half to hand the Badgers a 28-13 loss, their third of the season against ranked opponents.

This weekend Wisconsin takes a trip to Iowa City to face Iowa, featuring two 5-3 teams looking to secure bowl eligibility. It’s a matchup that the Hawkeyes won last season in a 15-6 dogfight where Iowa’s toughness stood out in the eyes of Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell.

“There’s no doubt,” Fickell said on Tuesday. “I guess I haven’t been in this league in a while being away a bit. But I can certainly tell you from the time in which I was playing, to the time in which I was coaching, to the time I’m back in the Big Ten. If there’s probably one of the most consistent things that I would say in this entire league is the toughness of Iowa from what I know and from what I’ve experienced.

“I don’t think that’s changed, I don’t know that it will change, and obviously it’s not going to change with Coach (Kirk) Ferentz there.”

Ferentz has been at the helm for Iowa since 1999, building up one of the best cultures across college football predicated on toughness. A culture that was even tough when Fickell played at Ohio State in the 90s. With this year’s Iowa team being is no different, leading the Big Ten in rushing and holding opponents under 20 points per game this season.

“It’s something that’s, I think, incredibly noticeable. And for those that maybe haven’t had the history, whether it’s playing or even being an assistant coach in the league, I would imagine if you ask some of those West Coast teams, those newer teams into the league, that what they are realizing now in particular if they played Iowa is it’s going to be a fight,” Fickell said. “It’s going to be about toughness.”

The Badgers have displayed plenty of toughness themselves this season, making Saturday’s matchup nearly a guarantee to be a classic, hard-nosed battle in the Big Ten. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET in a game airing on NBC and streaming on Fubo.