Kirk Ferentz explains why Iowa didn’t go for it on fourth down against Ohio State

COLUMBUS, Ohio — It was far from the difference-maker in a 35-7 loss to No. 3 Ohio State, but Iowa football did not capitalize on some tantalizing fourth-down opportunities in the first half Saturday.

Iowa faced two fourth-and-short situations in or on the edge of Ohio State territory. One play ended with a shanked punt and the other resulted in a missed field goal.

The punt situation began after quarterback Cade McNamara’s completion to Jarriett Buie was just short of the first-down marker.

The offense was still on the field on fourth down, albeit not looking ready to call a play. The punt unit, meanwhile, was on the edge of the sideline waiting for the go-ahead to take the field.

“I think (the coaches) were confident that we got it, and they wanted to review it,” McNamara said. “Because Ohio State, they had a very similar play, maybe the drive before or two drives before that, where they went to review and they ended up getting it.”

Then the officials stopped play for a replay review. After the review — which resulted in Iowa going from fourth-and-1 to fourth-and-less-than-a-yard — Iowa took the offense off the field and put in the punt unit.

The Hawkeyes attempted a fake punt and appeared to have enough yardage. But head coach Kirk Ferentz called a timeout right before the play began, negating

“Saw their linebackers kind of nudging up to the line,” Ferentz said. “They had been coached on that during the timeout. I think their coach was out in the middle of the field.”

As for why Ferentz did not give the offense a chance to convert on fourth-and-less-than-a-yard, he said it came down to “field position.”

“Maybe that’s too conservative, but at that point, our thought was ‘let’s pin ‘em in,’” Ferentz said. “Which we’ve done a pretty good job of this year.”

That strategy did not work, as freshman punter Rhys Dakin shanked a 22-yard punt. (Ohio State quickly negated that punt yardage with a 21-yard gain on the first play of the subsequent drive.)

Earlier in the game, Iowa attempted a 51-yard field goal attempt rather than going for it on fourth-and-3. Drew Stevens’ attempt was wide left, and Ohio State started its next drive at its own 33-yard line.

Ferentz said there was “not really” any consideration of going for it in the fourth-and-manageable situation.

“We were in a pretty good position at that point,” Ferentz said.

Of course, many other things went awry for the Hawkeyes on Saturday. Iowa was outgained, 412-226, and McNamara had three critical turnovers in the third quarter.

But the two fourth-and-short plays — both in the first half when Iowa only had a 7-0 deficit — presented an interesting “what if” for the Hawkeyes following their biggest loss of the season.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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