We knew coming into this season, or at least we should have known, that this was poised to be an up and down season. The makeup of this roster is solid, but there were enough moving pieces and enough reliance on newcomers to safely assume there would be some stinkers at some point.
Ten days ago, we certainly got one of those as the Hawkeyes went to Madison and gave up 116 points to the Wisconsin Badgers. It was an abysmal defensive performance in a low-energy showing that seemed to be a sign this season was headed in a downward spiral.