BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Jack Cichy was wearing one. So was Corey Clement.
Many Wisconsin players were wearing a red Under Armour t-shirt here Saturday.
Got grit? That was on the front of the shirt.
Truth is, it was less of a question and more of a declaration.
Got grit! Yep, they do.
That was proven during a hard-fought 17-9 win over Iowa.
"It's what Wisconsin is all about," said Cichy, whose left arm was in a sling. "We have to have that chip on our shoulder. We have to come into these types of games and win.
"These are four-quarter fistfights," he said with his eyes widening. "These are the games that we kind of live for. That's where the grittiness comes out."
Cichy was injured making a tackle on the sideline late in the first half.
But he still came out and played well into the fourth quarter.
"I played as best I could until Coach took me out, which I understood, it was for the betterment of the team," he said. "It was better having Ryan (Connelly) in there with two arms than me with one."
Cichy still ended up as Wisconsin's leading tackler with 10. But Connelly finished the game at inside linebacker for Cichy — just like he had done in the season opener for the injured Chris Orr.
"That's the grit — that next-man-up mentality," said defensive lineman Alec James. "In every game, we're going to have adversity and we have to be ready to face it, no matter what."
The Badgers traveled to Iowa City without starting nose guard Olive Sagapolu, who was injured against Ohio State. Conor Sheehy shifted over from defensive end to replace Sagapolu.
Sheehy, who has previous playing experience at the nose position, shared reps with true freshman Garrett Rand when the Badgers were in their base defense against the Hawkeyes.
"It's not something that you want to happen," cornerback Sojourn Shelton said of the injuries. "But, overall, as a team and a defense, we have prepared for situations like that.
"If you're a two-deep guy (on the depth chart), or even a three-deep guy, you're focused, prepared and ready if something does happen and you have to be inserted (into the lineup).
"When you see that t-shirt — 'Got grit?' — that's grit putting the injury to the side and still being able to focus," Shelton said of Cichy. "He'd do anything for this team and that's an example of it."
Shelton was also an example of grit. When cornerback Derrick Tindall was injured in the first half, Shelton took over as the "slot" corner in Wisconsin's nickel package.
The next man up, the third corner in this defensive scheme, was Titus Booker, a seldom-used redshirt freshman. Booker played opposite Lubern Figaro, who then replaced Tindall in the base.
Got grit!
"It's confidence, it's belief," said Shelton, offering his own definition of the words. "There were some up and down situations today. It was a heavyweight fight — swinging back and forth.
"When you're put into situations where somebody has to make a play, do you have that grit in you? Can you put the pressure aside and focus on the task ahead?"
A week earlier, Iowa rushed for 365 yards at Purdue. Akrum Wadley had 170. LeShun Daniels had 156. Combined, they have been averaging nearly 170 rushing yards per game this season.
On Saturday, the Badgers shut down Wadley, shut down Daniels, shut down the run. The Hawkeyes rushed for 83 yards on 27 carries. Wadley had 44. Daniels had 35.
"We made sure we took that away and made them one-dimensional," said UW defensive end Chikwe Obasih. "We were kind of mad about last year and the amount of yards they got."
In 2015, Iowa won a 10-6 slugfest in Madison. Jordan Canzeri rushed for 125 yards.
"The first thing you obviously want to do is stop the run," James said. "And we did that."
Iowa's longest run was 12 yards. That put more pressure on quarterback C.J. Beathard to make plays through the air. Beathard completed just 17 of 33 passes for 153 yards.
"Every week, no matter the opponent, our goal is to make them one-dimensional," said outside linebacker T.J. Watt, who had five tackles and 1.5 sacks.
"We say it time and time again, you have to win early downs and then you let the dogs loose on third down. You saw it at the end when we kind of cut it loose a little more."
Might be another t-shirt: Let the dogs loose.
Of Iowa's 12 possessions, the Hawks gained 20 or fewer yards on nine of them.
The Badgers forced five "three-and-outs."
"No matter the circumstance, we're going to get after you," Watt said. "We're always saying, 'Let the dogs loose.' That's imposing your will on the opponent and kind of wearing them down."
After a two-game absence, outside linebacker Vince Biegel was grateful to be back in action.
"It felt really good to be out there playing with the boys again," said Biegel, who missed the Michigan and Ohio State games after foot surgery. "I felt a little rusty with the foot.
"Coach Tibs (Tim Tibesar) wanted to take some reps off my foot and we had a great rotation with Garret (Dooley) and T.J. (Watt). We were able to keep fresh guys on the field."
Looking down at his foot, Biegel said, "This is 23 days after surgery."
Got grit!
"I feel like we've got some gritty guys on this team and I'm proud to be with them — battling with these guys," Biegel said. "We had a lot of guys stepping up."
That was addressed by Watt.
"Everyone prepares like they're the starter each week," he said. "They're getting meaningful reps and that's really important. We just have so much confidence in everyone on this team.
"There's no, 'Oh, crap, wish he were here' type of deal. It's the next man up, 'Let's go, we all have confidence in you.'"
Yet another t-shirt possibility: A circle with a diagonal through Oh, crap, wish he were here.
"I just love this team," Watt said, "and I love competing with these players each week."
One of the smallest players on the defense, senior safety Leo Musso, conducted a five-minute postgame radio interview while holding the Heartland Trophy, the reward for their grit, and maybe his.
"We've got a bunch of resilient guys who don't really care about the circumstances or whatever the situation is," Musso said proudly. "They just go out and play."
