For a while, Iowa made Ohio State work for it.
Then the Buckeyes flipped the switch.
No. 5 Ohio State turned a six-point halftime lead into a runaway second half Saturday at Kinnick Stadium, beating No.
14 Iowa 31-14 and handing the Hawkeyes their first loss of the season. The Buckeyes were tied up in a tight first half, but once they settled in, they took control with the kind of balance that can travel anywhere.
Jeremiah Smith was the headliner again. The junior wideout finished with 11 catches for 206 yards and two touchdowns, marking his second straight 200-yard receiving game after going for 217 against Illinois. He wasn’t chasing the numbers afterward, though.
He was chasing the result.
“We didn’t get a win back in Austin, so getting our first road win with this team, it means a lot.”
Ohio State got plenty else going, too. Julian Sayin threw for 324 yards, Devin McCuin added 80 receiving yards and a touchdown, and the Buckeyes piled up 160 rushing yards while the defense squeezed Iowa into just 238 total yards. The Hawkeyes managed only 39 yards on the ground and were forced into two turnovers.
The game started with Ohio State striking first on its second possession. Sayin hit McCuin on a 15-yard touchdown to make it 7-0.
Iowa answered with a 43-yard field goal from Connor Buhr, then after Jayden Hawkins drilled a 28-yard field goal for Ohio State, Buhr came back with a 48-yarder of his own. That trimmed the margin to 10-6, and it stayed there until the final seconds before halftime.
With 12 seconds left in the half, Sayin found Smith for a 12-yard touchdown, and suddenly Ohio State had opened things up to 17-6.
That cushion only grew after the break. In the third quarter, Sayin and Smith connected again, this time on a 57-yard touchdown that pushed the Buckeyes ahead 24-6. It was the kind of strike Ohio State has leaned on all season: Sayin putting the ball in Smith’s hands and letting the receiver do the rest.
By then, Smith was already past 200 yards for the second game in a row.
Iowa had chances to make things interesting, but Ohio State kept shutting the door. The Buckeyes intercepted a pass, recovered a fumble and forced two Iowa three-and-outs.
By the end of the afternoon, Ohio State had outgained the Hawkeyes 484-238 and ran 74 plays to Iowa’s 53. The Buckeyes also held the ball for 38:02, keeping Iowa’s offense watching from the sideline for long stretches.
The ground game helped put it away. Ja’Kobi Jackson and Bo Jackson each finished with 70 rushing yards, and Ja’Kobi Jackson delivered the knockout blow with 12:47 left in the fourth quarter on a 7-yard touchdown run that made it 31-6.
Iowa finally got on the board in the fourth quarter when Brendan Jackson scored from 2 yards out with 9:30 remaining, and Reece Vander Zee caught the two-point conversion to cut it to 31-14. But by then, the gap was too deep.
Sayin finished 20 of 27, and his three touchdown passes came in a game where Ohio State never needed to force anything. McCuin gave the Buckeyes their first spark, Smith took over from there, and the run game finished the job.
The loss dropped Iowa to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play. Ohio State improved to 4-1 and 2-0 in conference action, earning its first road win of the season.
After a halftime lead of just six points, the Buckeyes left Iowa City with a 17-point victory and a clearer picture of what they can be.
“We wanted to play 60 minutes and I felt like we accomplished that goal and got the win,” Day said.
In Other News...
Jeremiah Smith Just Put Ohio State Fans On Notice Again
Jeremiah Smith kept the Buckeyes moving in Iowa City, turning a road test against the Hawkeyes into another showcase for Ohio States passing game. The freshman wideout tied the Ohio State touchdown record while finishing with 11 catches for 206 yards and two scores, a performance that helped push the Buckeyes to a 4-1 start and add another layer to what has already become a must-watch season in Columbus.
Smiths latest breakout only raises the stakes for what comes next, because Ohio State now heads back home to face Maryland with its young star drawing even more attention. For a team that has spent the early part of the season trying to establish its identity, his ability to create production anywhere on the field has become one of the biggest reasons the Buckeyes keep looking like a contender. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Just Earned The Big Ten Spot Fans Wanted Most
Week 5 brought a clearer picture of the Big Ten race, and Ohio State came out of it looking like the conference team fans expected to see at the top. The Buckeyes handled Iowa in a game that carried more weight than a typical early-season road test, adding a quality win to a rsum that is starting to separate from the pack as the league standings and the national picture begin to take shape.
The rankings around them still have plenty of movement left, with Indiana continuing to push forward, Oregon and UCLA drawing attention for different reasons, and Michigan still trying to sort out its own path. But Ohio States recent momentum is the kind that can hold up as October approaches, especially if the Buckeyes keep matching style points with results in the weeks ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Freshmen Face Pressure As A Depth Concern Grows
Ohio States early-season depth conversation has shifted quickly from a future-facing discussion to something more immediate, especially at the skill spots where freshmen are being asked to help fill the gap. Defensive newcomer Jay Timmons has already shown why the staff is keeping a close eye on him, and on the offensive side the Buckeyes are still sorting through which first-year players can be trusted to handle meaningful snaps as the season settles in.
Among the freshmen, Legend Bey has already drawn the kind of concern that puts added pressure on development, while Brock Boyd and Chris Henry Jr. look like the ones most likely to work their way into larger roles. For a program that expects to keep rolling without much drop-off, the challenge is not just getting young players on the field, but getting enough reliable production from them to strengthen a depth chart that still feels unfinished. [Read more 🡒]