Ohio State looked every bit like a top-five team in Week Five, and Iowa felt the full force of it in a 31-14 loss that exposed just how uneven the Hawkeyes were on offense.
There were bright spots buried in the defeat, but not nearly enough of them. Iowa managed only one touchdown drive, and the offense spent most of the afternoon fighting uphill. That makes the trip to Seattle for a Week Six road clash against Washington even more important, but first, here are two winners and one loser from the loss to the Buckeyes.
Jeremy Hecklinski came out of the game with real value after Iowa’s quarterback situation shifted late. Hank Brown had won the starting job and opened the season with solid work through the first four weeks, including a strong fourth quarter against Michigan that helped power the game-winning touchdown pass to Reece Vander Zee. But against Ohio State, the inconsistencies that had started to show again became impossible to ignore.
Brown struggled to locate open receivers, and Iowa had them. At times he missed them outright, at times he checked the ball down, and at times he simply didn’t find them.
A shoulder injury late in the third quarter opened the door for Hecklinski, and he made the most of it. He led Iowa’s only touchdown-scoring drive and finished a perfect 5/5 for 65 yards.
One rough outing probably won’t force Kirk Ferentz to make a change, but Hecklinski gave the staff something to think about if Brown’s shoulder becomes an issue or if the backup keeps building on this performance.
Braeden Jackson keeps finding ways to matter. The former walk-on has been all over Iowa’s early success, and that continued against Ohio State.
Even with the Hawkeyes struggling to run the ball, Jackson found the end zone again. He had already delivered a kick return touchdown against Michigan, a play that gave Iowa a huge lift and kept it in the game early, and this time he scored on the ground after Hecklinski helped push the offense downfield.
That touchdown came on a 77-yard drive, the Hawkeyes’ only scoring march of the day. Jackson’s overall production now includes 19 carries for 170 yards and two rushing touchdowns, 119 return yards and a kick return touchdown, plus 42 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. He’s forcing his way onto the field because he does a little bit of everything, and Iowa has noticed.
The loser here is the Iowa offense as a whole. Plenty of individual pieces could have worn that label, but the entire unit earned it.
The ground game was stuck in neutral again, producing only 39 yards, and Brown’s -14 rushing yards after multiple sacks made the problem worse. The passing game had been enough to cover for the lack of a run threat in previous weeks, but not against Ohio State.
Brown and Hecklinski combined for 199 passing yards and an interception, and the offense finished with just 238 total yards. Brown’s uneven play and the absence of a real rushing attack left Iowa with nowhere to turn, and this time the defense couldn’t rescue the day the way it has in the past. Ohio State was the better team, but Iowa also failed to execute when the game demanded it.
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Jeremy Hecklinski also stays in the conversation after stepping in and handling himself well when Brown went down, giving Iowa an alternate option if the situation shifts before kickoff. Behind them, Kamari Moulton is listed as the lead back, with other running backs expected to share the workload, which suggests the Hawkeyes may lean on a committee approach in the backfield while waiting to see how their quarterback situation sorts itself out. [Read more 🡒]