Kirk Ferentz's famous 24-hour rule has passed, and that's the case here on HawkeyeRoundtable.com as well.

Iowa's dismal defeat to Minnesota was frustrating for its fans, players, and coaches alike, but the Hawkeyes (5-2, 2-2) have now flipped the page to a crucial rivalry tilt against No. 25 Wisconsin (5-2, 3-1) at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday (11 a.m., FOX).

Here are my three and a half early thoughts ahead of the 100th edition of this iconic Big Ten rivalry:

A defensive slugfest is very likely

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Saturday's game at Kinnick Stadium is likely going to be an old-school Big Ten rock fight. It's hard to have any faith in Iowa's offense to piece together scoring drives after what we saw against Minnesota, but Wisconsin is also at best an average offensive team. The Badgers rank 15th in the Big Ten in scoring offense (27.9 points per game) and has tallied 30 or more points in a conference game just once this year.

Wisconsin is a team that lives on playing close, low-scoring games, so that's probably what it will try and do to Iowa on Saturday. Don't expect many points to be scored in this one.

Iowa will probably be without its lead back

Ferentz will provide more updates on Tuesday afternoon, but it's likely that the Hawkeyes will be without lead running back Kamari Moulton (541 yards) on Saturday after he suffered an arm injury in the first half of the Minnesota loss. Iowa's Week 9 depth chart didn't have Moulton on it, and it's going to be very problematic for the Hawkeyes' already-struggling run game. Iowa boasts just the 12th-best rushing offense in the league and only managed 90 yards on 30 carries against a Minnesota run defense that yielded 305 yards to Purdue a few weeks ago.

After Moulton, the Hawkeyes' running back room looks like this: Xavier Williams (187 yds, 3 TD), Braeden Jackson (177 yds, 2 TD), Nathan McNeil (128 yds, 2 TD), and L.J. Phillips (88 yds).

Who is going to step up for this room on Saturday? We'll soon find out.

Tim Lester needs to bounce back

Iowa certainly didn't have good quarterback play against Minnesota, but where was Tim Lester's creativity against the Gophers? The motion, play-action, and trick plays that we saw against Washington were nonexistent in Minneapolis. There's no question that Lester is capable of calling a great game, but that may have been his worst called game with the Hawkeyes.

Crafting a successful scheme against a good Wisconsin defense won't be easy, but Lester needs to be better against the Badgers. Iowa's best chance at moving the football may be through those out-of-the-box play calls, so we'll see what game plan Lester can come up with on Saturday.

The Half

If it feels like Iowa never plays at 11 a.m. anymore, you would be correct. Saturday's morning kickoff will mark the Hawkeyes' first early kick of the year and just the third overall since the beginning of the 2025 season.

Source: Yahoo Sports