38. Wisconsin 24, Iowa 21 (2006)

The Badgers were in the midst one of their best seasons in program history, coming in with a record of 9-1. However, the Badgers would be without starting quarterback John Stocco, so backup Tyler Donovan would make his first career start in Iowa City. Donovan would have a fantastic day, completing 17 of 24 passes for 228 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Wisconsin would defeat Iowa for the first time since 2001.

A series of punts opened the game before the Badgers drew first blood. Wisconsin started with terrific field position at the Iowa 48 and were able to drive down the field for the field goal. Donovan and P.J. Hill each had 15 yards rushing on the drive before the drive stalled at the Iowa 14. Taylor Mehlhaff’s 31-yard field goal was good and Bucky led 3-0 late in the first quarter.

On the first play of Iowa’s next possession, Drew Tate was intercepted by Roderick Rogers and the Badgers took over on the Iowa 26. Two plays and two Travis Beckum catches, including the 3-yard score with less than a minute to go in the first quarter, gave the Badgers a 10-0 lead.

Iowa was able to get it back to a one possession game midway through the second quarter when Tate found Tony Moeaki for a 4-yard score to cut it to 10-7. The big play came on a 3rd-and-8 from Iowa’s 26 when Tate hooked up with tight end Scott Chandler on a 64-yard gain down to the Wisconsin 10. Two plays later, Moeaki hauled in the pass for six.

On the next Hawkeyes drive, they took the lead for the first time. A 30-yard run by Damian Sims got the drive started right for Iowa. Six plays later, Tate found fullback Tom Busch for the score from three yards out and all of a sudden, Wisconsin was down 14-10.

That lead would not last long for the Hawkeyes, as Donovan drove his team down and hooked up with Luke Swan for a 42-yard touchdown with less than a minute left in the first half. The play was on a 3rd-and-8 and Donovan found Swan deep down field for the score. It would stay that way until the final quarter. In the first half, Donovan went 8-9 for 102 yards and a pair of scores.

There was no scoring in the third quarter, but when the quarter ended, Wisconsin was on the move. P.J. Hill would eventually cap off the long drive with a 1-yard score to put the Badgers ahead 24-14. On the drive, Wisconsin would start off on its own 3, but then drove 97 yards in 15 plays to go ahead by two scores. The big play came again via Donovan to Swan. Facing a 3rd-and-11 from the Wisconsin 39, Donovan hooked up with Swan for 48 yards down to the Iowa 13. Hill carried the ball nine times on the drive for 35 yards, including the score.

Hill would lose his first career fumble on Wisconsin’s next possession, which gave Iowa good field position. The Hawkeyes would cash in. Starting at its own 41, Tate threw a 35-yard pass to Sims and two plays after that, he found wide receiver Trey Stross for 24 yards for the score and Iowa cut the deficit back down to three.

But drops would come back to kill Iowa. Chandler and Dominique Douglas both dropped passes late in the game that would have been first downs. The pass to Douglas was a bit behind him, but he was open and had the ball in his hands, but he dropped it on fourth down late in the game. Wisconsin would run out the clock and the Badgers went to 10-1 on the year and put an end to a four game losing streak to Iowa.

Bucky would go onto win the following week 35-3 over Buffalo to finish off its first 11-win regular season in program history.