Ohio State football smothers Iowa as Buckeyes pull away for big win

Posted by Admin October 5, 2024 Football

Games against Iowa are seldom cakewalks.

The Hawkeyes are bland on offense, to put it charitably, but they are famously stingy on defense.

More talented opponents must be patient and avoid mistakes. Otherwise, they find themselves in a battle, as Ohio State was for a half on Saturday.

But the dam broke early in the third quarter when the No. 3 Buckeyes scored three touchdowns in a 35-7 victory in front of 106,135 at Ohio Stadium.

Ohio State is 5-0 (2-0 Big Ten) heading into its showdown next week at No. 6 Oregon.

Iowa (3-2, 1-1) held the Buckeyes to only one score in the first half, an 88-yard touchdown drive on their first possession. But Ohio State’s stout defense shut down Hawkeyes star running back Kaleb Johnson and limited Iowa to only 90 yards in the first half. That allowed the Buckeyes to go into the locker room with an uncomfortably slim lead.

It didn’t stay that way for long.

On the first possession of the third quarter, Will Howard connected with star freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith for a 53-yard completion to the Iowa 4. Smith, who fumbled the ball away after his only first-half reception, then made a one-handed touchdown catch with the Iowa defender pulling on his left arm.

On the Hawkeyes’ first snap, defensive end Jack Sawyer stripped the ball from Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara, and Cody Simon recovered. Three plays later, Howard ran in for a 4-yard touchdown. He finished 21 of 25 for 209 yards with four touchdown passes and one interception.

Sawyer’s strip was the first of three turnovers OSU’s defense forced in the second half.

An efficient first drive for Ohio State but mistake-prone after that

On their first possession, the Buckeyes converted three third downs before Howard threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Emeka Egbuka in a drive that consumed more than half of the first quarter.

But OSU failed to score the rest of the half. Howard was stuffed a yard short on fourth-and-2 at the Iowa 42. On the next series, Smith had the ball poked away by Iowa’s Jay Higgins, and Iowa recovered at its 28.

Two straight incompletions forced a punt at the Iowa 41 late in the half, and Howard threw an interception after Ohio State got the ball back after a three-and-out.

Ohio State defense was lights out, with an Iowa assist

But as expected, Iowa’s offense found little traction against the Buckeyes’ stout defense, even though McNamara, a transfer from Michigan, completed nine of his first 10 passes.

When it mattered, Ohio State shut down Kaleb Johnson, who entered as the nation’s second-leading rusher with 685 yards (8.4 yards per carry). The Ohioan had two 28-yard carries, one in the third quarter after OSU had padded its lead and the other midway through the fourth quarter to end the Buckeyes’ shutout bid. Johnson finished with 86 yards in 15 carries.

Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz made two conservative decisions that didn’t pay off. Iowa drove to the Ohio State 33 early in the second quarter. Instead of going for it on fourth-and-1, Ferentz chose to attempt a 51-yard field goal, which barely missed left.

On the Hawkeyes’ next possession, Iowa faced fourth-and-1 at midfield. Ferentz sent in the punt team. From a bunched formation, Iowa faked it and got the first down, but Ferentz called timeout before the play. He then decided to punt, which was a shank that went only 22 yards.

Scoring chances were scarce after that until the game was a blowout. Trailing 21-0, Iowa drove to the OSU 24 when Davison Igbinosun intercepted McNamara and returned it 45 yards.

Egbuka scored on a 15-yard pass to cash in. The senior caught a 3-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter from Howard following a turnover caused by defensive tackle Ty Hamilton.

Until backups entered on the next OSU defensive series and Johnson scored, the Buckeyes outgained Iowa 381-143.