BY ANDY BAGGOT
MADISON, Wis. — Winning on the road has been one of the hallmarks of the Paul Chryst coaching era at Wisconsin.
Since taking over the football program at his alma mater 72 games ago in 2015, he has guided the Badgers to an 18-7 record in true road contests. That .720 success rate is the easily best of the 12 coaches who have overseen the team during the modern era, which began in 1946.
In fact, there are only four other UW coaches with a winning record on the road going back to '46: Gary Andersen from 2013 to '14 (6-3, .667), Ivy Williamson from 1949 to '55 (16-11-2, .586), Bret Bielema from 2006 to '12 (18-15, .545) and Barry Alvarez from 1990 to 2005 (42-37-1, .531).
The Badgers currently are working on four road winning streaks spanning at least five games, all involving Big Ten Conference opponents. One is on the table Saturday at 2:30 p.m. when No. 25 UW (2-2) plays No. 19 Iowa (5-2) at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.
Wisconsin is 5-0 in its last five trips to Kinnick (2010, '13, '14, '16 and '18). Its last loss there was in 2008.
Meanwhile, the Badgers have won their last eight outings at Minnesota (2005, '07, '09, '11, '13, '15, '17 and '19) and Purdue (1999, 2004, '06, '10, '12, '14, '16 and '18). Their last defeat in Minneapolis was in 2003. In West Lafayette, Indiana, it was in 1997.
Wisconsin has also prevailed in its last five games at Indiana (2006, '08, '09, '12 and '17).
The eight-game streaks against Minnesota and Purdue are the longest run of success vs. a single opponent on the road in UW history. The Badgers also once won eight in a row at Northwestern (1947, '49, '51, '53, '55, '57, '59 and '61).
Here are five more things to know:
Get Well Card
This marks the fourth time during the Chryst Era that the Badgers will face Iowa coming off a loss. They won each previous time (2016, '18 and '19). Two of those victories came in Iowa City ('16 and '18). Two came on the heels of consecutive losses ('16 and '19).
Then and Now
During blowout victories over Illinois and Michigan, the Badgers, on average, needed 5.0 yards on third down to get a first down, never trailed and totaled four penalties for 20 yards. During consecutive losses to Northwestern and Indiana, UW needed 6.3 yards on third down to get a first down, never led and was flagged a total of 16 times for 150 yards.
Doing Their Part
Wisconsin stands No. 1 nationally in rushing, passing and total defense while ranking second in scoring defense. Yes, the numbers are skewed by the coronavirus pandemic — for example, the Badgers have played four games while Texas State has played 12 — but limiting opponents to 229.3 yards of offense per game is exceptionally good. That total ranks second in program history behind the famed "Hard Rocks" of 1951, who allowed a measly 154.8. For more reference, UW is yielding 4.31 yards per play. That's the best mark since the 2006 club allowed 4.25. The '51 squad limited opponents to 2.58 yards a play.
Score to Settle
UW held its first four opponents to fewer than 20 points. Going back to 1990, there have been only seven instances where the Badgers have had streaks like this lasting five games or more (five in 1993, 2011, '12 and '16; six in '19; eight in '17; nine in '04).
It's Been a While
You have to go back to 1991 to find the last time Wisconsin was held under 10 points in back-to-back outings like it was versus Northwestern (17-7) and Indiana (14-6). That was 365 games ago. The last time the Badgers were held to single digits in three straight outings was 1990.
