OSU sinks No. 1 Iowa: Hawks fall, 22-13, into Big Ten tie

(Published 11/3/1985)

COLUMBUS, OHIO -

This time, there was no singing in the rain.

For the first time since last November, the University of Iowa has lost a college football game.

The No. 1 national ranking is gone, the unbeaten season is gone, and a lot of sugarplums that danced in the heads of Hawkeye fans are probably gone as well.

The Ohio State Buckeyes outplayed Iowa in a Saturday afternoon downpour at Ohio Stadium, and won, 22-13. Both teams are 7-1 overall and share the lead in the Big Ten Conference with 4-1 marks.

Iowa fans probably shouldn't have any what-might-have-beens about this one. OSU asserted itself early in the game, never trailed, and played better when it mattered most. The Bucks outgained Iowa, 370 yards to 345, and came up with five Hawkeye turnovers while allowing just two.

The turnover factor continued to serve OSU amazingly well. The Bucks have forced 23 turnovers this season, while allowing but six. That's called taking care of business.

"Ohio State just played a super football game and deserved to win," said subdued Iowa Coach Hayden Fry. "They did more things correctly than we did.

"At the same time," Fry said, "I'm extremely proud of the way our guys battled back. We just weren't good enough or Ohio State was better, depending on how you look at it."

OSU Coach Earle Bruce had obvious reason for delight after notching his 20th consecutive win at home and second in two years here against Iowa.

"This is truly one of the finest victories I've ever been associated with as a coach," Bruce said. "It was just a great team effort by our football team."

And Bruce's defense led the way. Linebacker Chris Spielman and Pepper Johnson were involved in 19 tackles apiece, and many other Buck defenders had big plays.

But what happened to the Hawks? Besides the fact they met a pretty good team, that is. Well, the rain that seemingly didn't bother them a bit in recent games against Texas, Northern Illinois, Michigan State and Michigan was no friend to Iowa quarterback Chuck Long and his mates this day.

Long didn't resemble a Heisman Trophy hopeful against an OSU defense that likely played its best game of the season. Long completed just 17 of 34 passes for 169 yards, and worse, was intercepted four times.

But the rain didn't cause all the pain. The weather wasn't all that bad to the Hawks in the first half, but Ohio State was.

The Buckeyes used four scores to build a 15-0 lead with five minutes to go in the first half. All was not lost for Iowa at the time, but the hole proved to be a little too deep on a day when climbing out was slippery.

In that first half, OSU didn't do much to show it had any semblance of a killer instinct. The Bucks could have given CBS a national television bomb had it found the end zone every time it neared it.

The first time the Buckeyes got the ball, slick junior quarterback Jim Karsatos fired four straight completions to gobble 61 yards, and OSU had a first-and-goal at the Iowa 9. But the defense tightened and the Bucks settled for a 3-0 lead as Rich Spangler kicked a 28-yard field goal.

Spangler missed a 31-yard field goal try the next time OSU had the ball. On possession No. 3, the Bucks started at the Iowa 29 after sophomore Spielman snared an interception.

Iowa's Rick Schmidt, a second-team junior, returned the favor three plays later at the Iowa 3. It was Schmidt's first career pickoff.

But the Hawks couldn't get a first down, so Gary Kostrubala had to punt from the Hawks' end zone. In stormed OSU rover Sonny Gordon, who blocked the kick almost into Kentucky. It rocketed out of the end zone on one quick bounce for a safety to make it 5-0 with two seconds left in the first quarter.

That play was an indication of who the boss was this day.

The Buckeyes couldn't do much when they got close to the end zone, but did just fine from their own 43-yard line. John Wooldridge, OSU's leading rusher this year, carried only nine times Saturday, but one of those nine gave most of the stadium-record crowd of 90,467 a lot of joy.

From the OSU 43, Wooldridge blew up the middle on his first carry of the day and went 57 yards for a touchdown with 9:06 left in the half.

This came after Long threw his second interception, and made it 12-0.

Things got even worse for Iowa. Buckeye cornerback Greg Rogan intercepted Long at the Iowa 46. Soon, OSU had a first-and-goal at the 6, but settled for a 26-yard Spangler field goal to make it 15-0.

Long was, to be truthful, lousy up to that point. He had just 37 passing yards to go with the three interceptions. If you don't believe he was off, read the following paragraph.

"I forced things too much," Long said. "I threw high at times, low at times... I really don't know what happened. It was just bad."

Ironically, this was the day Long passed former Purdue great Mark Herrmann as the Big Ten's all-time leader in total offense. Long has 9,196 yards, 62 more than Herrmann.

The first half did end with reason for Iowa optimism. Long directed the Hawkeyes 88 yards for a touchdown that made it a 15-7 game at intermission.

The scoring play showed a bit of nerve on Fry's part. Iowa had a fourth-and-two at the OSU 3. Long pitched to Ronnie Harmon, and Harmon tore around the left side of the field. He planted a foot into the end zone before going out of bounds.

Nobody scored in the third quarter, but both teams should have. The Buckeyes received the ball to begin the second half. On a second-and-five at the Iowa 40, soph fullback George Cooper of Wyandanch, N.Y., ran 27 yards to the 13.

Three plays later, Spangler botched a 29-yard field goal. He hadn't missed any of seven previous field goals from within 40 yards before the game.

Cooper shouldn't be overlooked. He ran 17 times for 104 yards, and often gained five or six yards on a first-down call.

In fact, all the hullabaloo over whether OSU's great tailback, Keith Byars, would play this day (he didn't) was rapidly forgotten once the game got going and the Bucks established a ground game that produced 219 yards.

The game was moving along uneventfully for a while in the third quarter when Iowa safety Jay Norvell suddenly grabbed a Karsatos pass at the OSU 28 and returned it to the 19. Iowa was that close from a chance to tie the game, assuming it could succeed on a two-point conversion.

But another killing play occurred when Iowa had a fourth-and-one on the 10. For the fourth straight play, Long handed off to Harmon. This time, Harmon was stacked up and dropped the ball at the 11, and the Bucks got the ball with just over three minutes left in the quarter.

It was a cruel moment in an otherwise staunch effort by Harmon. He ran 26 times for 120 yards.

Still, hope lingered for the Hawkeyes. OSU punted on its next drive, and Iowa had the ball at its 13 with 14 minutes left in the game.

Long immediately fired a pass to Scott Helverson for 18 yards, and the march was on. Except Helverson was popped by linebacker Derek Isaman, and he fumbled the ball away at the Iowa 31.

It took the Buckeyes five plays to score. The TD came on a four-yard run by freshman Vince Workman, and it was 22-7.

Iowa responded with an 80-yard scoring march that fullback David Hudson finished with a two-yard TD dive. There was 8:19 remaining, plenty of time. If the Hawks could just execute the two-point play, they'd be seven points away from a tie. If.

They didn't come close. Kevin Harmon, subbing because brother Ronnie hurt an ankle, was halted at the 3, and Iowa trailed 22-13.

The Hawks stopped OSU on downs, and eventually set up a 42-yard field goal attempt for Rob Houghtlin with 3:28 to go.

Houghtlin was close, but not close enough, and all hope in Hawkeyeland dissolved into sad realism.