The Big Analysis -- Ohio State

When the Hawkeyes have the ball

Let's allow the Big Ten rankings to do the talking for this unit so far this season.

Ohio State is ranked No. 1 in points allowed (13.6 per game), pass defense (151.1 yards per game), turnover margin (plus-14 with a league-high 26 takeaways and 17 INTs) and total defense (238.0 yards per game). The Buckeyes are second second in rushing yards allowed (86.9 per game), just 1 yard behind Iowa (868 to 869).

The odd stat is the Buckeyes' highest-rated tackler in the Big Ten tackle stats is linebacker Ross Homan, who just returned to the lineup last week after suffering a foot injury against Wisconsin on Oct. 16. He's tied for No. 26. Fellow linebacker Brian Rolle, maybe OSU's most-active defender, is tied for 43rd at 5.2 tackles per game.

What this really means is the Buckeyes generally get several defenders to the ball. Ten players have at least 30 tackles, with Rolle (52) and Homan (48) Nos. 1 and 2 on the team.

Iowa's undersized offensive line -- none of the players weigh what they're listed at, coach Kirk Ferentz pretty much admitted a few weeks ago -- will face an Ohio State D-line that also is undersized but blackbelts in the weight room. What this group lacks in size, though, it makes up for with mobility, technique and toughness. Iowa's O-line was a question mark going into '10, but it's delivered with an abundance of mobility, technique and winning the battle of angles.

The flashpoint for Ohio State's defense was Oct. 16 at Wisconsin. The Badgers' offensive line herded the Buckeyes around Camp Randall. The difference between Wisconsin and Iowa O-lines is about 25 pounds per man. Iowa probably won't be able to line up and run over the Buckeyes.

A big part of Iowa's success on the ground this season -- RB Adam Robinson needs 86 yards to reach 1,000 -- has been fullback Brett Morse. Part of his job, and that of Iowa's inside O-line trio of James Ferentz, Julian Vandervelde and Josh Koeppel (who's stepped in to replace injured co-starters Nolan MacMillan and Adam Gettis), will disrupting Homan and Rolle.

Two reference points from a disastrous weekend by Lake Michigan for the Hawkeyes' offense were penalties and negative yardage plays. For much of the day, Iowa's offense was one step forward and two steps back with negative yards stalling drives, particularly at the beginning of the game.

The lapses of concentration and discipline killed the Hawkeyes against Northwestern. Against the No. 8 Buckeyes, those mistakes won't let the Hawkeyes off the bus from the Crowne Plaza in Cedar Rapids.

Advantage: Ohio State

When the Buckeyes have the ball

Ferentz mentioned during his press conference Tuesday that Ohio State now has a couple different speeds. What he means there is junior quarterback Terrelle Pryor is all grown up and coach Jim Tressel is putting his talents to use.

Pryor, who announced earlier this month that he will return for his senior season in Columbus, showed it in the Rose Bowl last January against Oregon. The 6-6, 233-pounder has developed into a true dual-threat quarterback who can consistently beat teams with his arm as well as his feet. The Buckeyes offense arguably is the most explosive and diverse as it's been during Pryor's three years as starter.

Ohio State leads the Big Ten in points per game at 41.6. Last season, when the Buckeyes won their fifth straight Big Ten title and the Rose Bowl, they averaged 29.0 points a game, a jump of 12.6 points.

Pryor has 22 touchdown passes through 10 games, four more than his total (18) in 13 games last season. Last season he completed 56.6 percent of his passes and threw an interception every 26.8 attempts. His completion rate is up to 67.2 percent, and he has eight interceptions in 238 attempts, one every 29.75 attempts.

The Buckeyes have success running the ball out of their version of the pistol formation. The running back lines up 3 yards behind the quarterback, who is in shallow shotgun, but OSU also uses an offset fullback to the right or left of Pryor. If fullbacks had a shot at all-Big Ten, Zach Boren would be in the running alongside Iowa's Morse. Boren, 6-0, 250, is a devastating lead blocker.

Dan Herron is OSU's featured running back. He rushed for a career-high 190 yards last week against Penn State, helping the Buckeyes to comeback from a 14-3 halftime deficit. Herron and running back Brandon Saine are excellent on draws and isolation plays out of the pistol formation. The pistol will again test the discipline and stamina of Iowa's D-line, which still does a lot of stunting and twisting.

Ohio State wide receivers Dane Sanzenbacher (43 catches, 18.7-yard average, nine TDs) and DeVier Posey (43 catches, 15.4 ypc and five TDs) have improved right along with Pryor. Sanzenbacher is having an all-Big Ten caliber season.

At one point this season, Pryor had a streak of an interception for every 51 throws, which is outstanding. That's dwindled to the 29.75 it stands at right now. What it might mean is Pryor might still be tipping his hand by staring down receivers. Iowa's safeties Brett Greenwood and Tyler Sash are among the Big Ten's best. Iowa's zone coverage will give the secondary a chance to read where Pryor is looking. Iowa is second behind Ohio State with 15 interceptions. Goes without saying the turnover battle carries meaning in this game. 

Expect Iowa to play eight defenders close to the line of scrimmage to try to limit Pryor's outs, the short checkdown routes and the openings to scramble through. Ohio State isn't a no-huddle offense, as Northwestern was last week, but it does have a quarterback who can break you with his feet.

Advantage: Push

Special teams

The Buckeyes had a blip in special teams against Miami earlier this season, allowing TDs on an 88-yard kick return and a 79-yard punt return. Last season, the Hawkeyes broke a streak of 242 kickoffs without a TD when Derrell Johnson-Koulianos went 99 yards to keep the Hawkeyes close at Columbus.

Tressel's formula for special teams is sound fundamentals with explosive playmakers threaded in.

Jordan Hall is No.2 in the Big Ten in punt returns at 10.3 yards an attempt. Jaamal Berry is third in the Big Ten in kickoff returns (26.0-yard average). Kicker Devin Barclay, who beat the Hawkeyes and sent the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl with a 39-yarder in OT last season, has made 14 of 17 field-goal attempts.

"As far as I know, I might be one of the most hated people there, and that's fine with me," Barclay said earlier this week when asked about last season's game-winner against the Hawkeyes.

Outside of Johnson-Koulianos, who leads the Big Ten with 27.5 yards a kick return, the Hawkeyes' special teams have treaded water after having major roles in two of Iowa's three losses. Last week, punter Ryan Donahue had a 12-yard punt and a 73-yarder. That says it all for the consistency of Iowa's special teams this season.

Advantage: Ohio State

The Scoreboard

The Buckeyes have too many top-shelf playmakers on offense for an Iowa defense that, let's face it, has had the middle chewed out of it because of injuries. Fault Iowa's approach on defense all you want, but the D-line is its best group of athletes and a coaching staff that has been mostly without defensive coordinator Norm Parker since mid-September will ride this group all the way through.

Iowa will turn this into a physical grind, but Ohio State has the gears to grind and blast off.

Ohio State 27, Iowa 21