Bloodshed, IA 52242: Iowa offense has gone from lousy to ludicrous

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tory Taylor was Iowa’s offensive star Saturday, and I’m serious.

The punter, after what appeared to be a moment or two of trepidation, took off on foot after taking a snap to do his normal job on a fourth-and-6 from the Iowa 30 late in the first quarter.

It was his idea, 100 percent. Watching a replay, you can see how Taylor thought there was enough open green in front of him to get those 6 yards. But the Buckeyes weren’t caught by surprise, and three of them converged on Taylor 2 yards short of the first down.

“That wasn’t part of our plan,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “It was not a sanctioned play.”

But it was aggressive and unpredictable. Iowa lost by a boatload of points, 54-10, so why not roll the dice here and there? Saturday, Iowa’s offense was everything you expected and less.

Look, Ohio State is 7-0, has won all its games by double-digits, and has held all its foes under 21 points. It wasn’t going to let Iowa’s offense go from comatose to caffeinated. But the nation’s No. 131 offense gained just 158 yards and scored only three points, and just becoming competent seems like a crazy dream.

When your offense gets outscored by your defense for the third time in seven games — I know, I know. You’ve heard it all before, there are no new ways to say it, and the ignominy of it all just keeps growing.

This offense, however, has gone from lousy to ludicrous. That is illustrated by this newest bizarre twist:

The Hawkeyes allowed 54 points Saturday, and their defense played great!

Not decent. Not good. Great. It held an Ohio State team that had been averaging 543.7 yards to 360. Mathematically, Iowa stayed in the game through most of the first half because it held the Buckeyes to field goals after drives of 1, 4 and 22 yards that followed offensive foul-ups.

Do you know bad the score could have been? Dystopian, post-apocalyptic bad, that’s what.

The dam broke in the second half, but OSU quarterback C.J. Stroud and his receivers had to make some sensational plays to make touchdowns happen. Stroud is as good as it gets in the college game, but Iowa’s defense made him work.

Ohio State rushed for a mere 66 yards, 2.2 per carry. It had been averaging 228 and 6.0.

“When I was on the sideline I sat down and I was looking up at their total yards (on the scoreboard),” Iowa defensive tackle Noah Shannon said. “At the time I was looking at it, it was like 298 or something like that. I forget what the score was, 42 or something like that.”

It was 47, actually.

“It didn’t all, like, align in my head,” Shannon said.

It’s not aligning in anyone’s head. By the way, Shannon didn’t say anything in postgame interviews to be critical of Iowa’s offense, nor did fellow defenders Jack Campbell, Joe Evans and Kaevon Merriweather. Their restraint and refusal to be finger-pointers is admirable. Amazing, even.

Play the kind of defense those guys have played this season, have a 3-4 record to show for it and a “54” in Ohio State’s ledger that wasn’t your fault, and don’t call your offense unkind things? Mother Teresa would have marveled at your humanity.

Iowa wasn’t going to win this game. If Ohio State loses to anyone, it won’t happen until the national playoffs. But how does Ferentz look his defensive coaches and players in the eyes with the way his offense has denied them the chance to have another very nice season?

Sure, as Iowa players and its head coach mentioned repeatedly after the game, there are five games left, lots of opportunity and whatnot. It’s five games against the flotsam and jetsam of the Big Ten West, so maybe the Hawkeyes can be on the better side of some 9-6 games.

It had been two weeks since the Hawkeyes’ 9-6 loss at Illinois, however, and there were no new signs of offensive life Saturday.

If you’re Tory Taylor, why wouldn’t you try to run to a mirage of daylight one time? Punting is so not winning.

Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com