Iowa football: Two Hawks receive Week 11 All-Big Ten honors

The Iowa football team lost a hard-fought battle versus Wisconsin Saturday earning two Hawkeyes PFF Week 11 All-Big Ten honors.

The Iowa football team fell to Wisconsin by two points to rack up their fourth consecutive loss to the Badgers this past Saturday afternoon. If there was one bright spot from the loss, it was that the offense didn’t look nearly as atrocious as it did against the Michigan Wolverines or even the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Oddly enough, it was the defense that lost the game for the Hawks as they allowed Jonathon Taylor to run all over them for 250 yards on 31 carries despite knowing that Wisconsin had every intention of doing exactly that.

Needless to say, Taylor graded out quite well by any measure, including Pro Football Focus’ unique grading scale, which had Taylor as the top back in the Big Ten this week.

He happened to be joined by two Iowa football players as well.

Tristan Wirfs inclusion comes as little surprise as he has seen his name make PFF’s Big Ten Offense of the Week multiple times this season. His stellar play has coincided with his continued rise on NFL Draft boards, which means he likely gone after this season.

Joining him this week is star defensive end AJ Epenesa who has had a quiet season leading some to speculate he may decide to return for his senior season.

In a game that meant a great deal for the Iowa football team’s chances of still competing for a Big Ten West title, Epenesa made one of the plays of the game when he strip-sacked Jack Coan to force a turnover deep in Wisconsin territory.

Unfortunately, as is the norm with the Iowa football team’s putrid offense, they stalled out and had to kick a field goal.

With another rivalry game against unbeaten Minnesota looming, the Hawkeyes will need more than two guys to put together fantastic games if they want the Floyd of Rosedale to remain in Iowa City.