Iowa vs. Ohio State Game Report: Numbers and notes from the Hawkeyes’ 35-7 loss

MINNEAPOLIS — A closer look at Iowa’s 35-7 loss Saturday to Ohio State at Ohio Stadium.

Turning point: Ohio State starts the second half with a bang

It just kind of felt like a matter of time for Ohio State’s offense. That time came to begin the second half.

The Buckeyes led at halftime, 7-0, and received the kickoff to begin the third quarter. They took over possession at their own 14 and moved the football to their 43.

On a third-and-6 from the OSU 43, quarterback Will Howard fired deep right to wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who had gotten behind Iowa’s secondary coverage. A 53-yard gain to the Iowa 4 was followed by Smith one-handing a fade pass left from Howard for the touchdown.

On the first play of Iowa’s ensuing possession, Hawkeyes quarterback Cade McNamara was sacked by Jack Sawyer and fumbled, with OSU’s Cody Simon recovering at the Iowa 19. Three plays later, Howard scored from 4 yards out on a read-option play left.

That made it a 21-0 Ohio State lead with 7:59 left in the third quarter. Game, set, match for the Buckeyes.

A McNamara interception set up another OSU touchdown before quarter’s end to begin to make it a rout. Ohio State scored 21 points off three forced turnovers in the second half, Iowa zero points off two forced turnovers in the first half.

By the numbers: Iowa at Ohio State

0 — Penalties in the first half.

8 — Consecutive losses for Iowa against a ranked opponent.

86 — Rushing yards for Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson. He came in averaging 171.3.

76 — It was 76 degrees at kickoff, not bad for an October game.

20 million — The reported amount of money Ohio State players are getting through the school’s NIL collective this season.

Iowa football notebook

* Ohio State went 88 yards on 14 plays to score a touchdown on its first offensive possession of the game. Howard hit wide receiver Emeka Egbuka for a 14-yard touchdown pass to the right front corner of the end zone.

That was the first time Iowa’s defense had allowed a TD on the opponent’s opening possession in 27 games. Michigan did so in its 27-14 win over the Hawkeyes in 2022.

* Iowa kicker Drew Stevens missed his first field-goal attempt of the season when he hooked a 51-yarder from the left hashmark just left. He’d made his first six attempts.

* Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz is still tied with Chicago’s Amos Alonzo Stagg for second in Big Ten history with 199 victories as a member of the Big Ten Conference. He trails only Ohio State’s Woody Hayes (205).

Saturday was Ferentz’s 14th road game against a top-10 opponent. Iowa has three wins in those games.

* There was an interesting sequence of events for Iowa early in the second quarter.

A 10-yard pass completion from McNamara to Jarriet Buie on third-and-11 took the football to midfield. On fourth-and-a half-yard, Iowa lined up to punt, with an upback taking the snap and making the first down.

However Ferentz called timeout just before the ball was snapped. Iowa ended up not going for it again, with a short punt giving Ohio State possession at its 28.

Iowa football injury report

Iowa went without wide receiver Kaleb Brown, who was designated as “out” prior to the game. The Ohio State transfer has one catch this season.

Running back Leshon Williams and wide receiver Seth Anderson both were available. Anderson hadn’t played, yet, this season while Williams did not play two weeks ago at Minnesota and has been limited in Iowa’s other games because of injury.

Defensive lineman Ethan Hurkett left the game in the third quarter with what appeared to be some sort of leg injury. He did walk off the field on his own, however.

Iowa’s next game

Iowa hosts Washington next week. It’s an 11 a.m. kickoff at Kinnick Stadium, with TV to be determined (Fox or Big Ten Network). The Huskies took a 3-2 record into their game Saturday night at Michigan. These schools last played in the 1995 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, with Iowa winning, 38-18.

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