Iowa efficient up the middle in run game vs. Ohio State

IOWA CITY — In every game Iowa plays, there are a few key areas of concern for the Hawkeyes in which they want to succeed: efficiency through the air, getting ahead of the chains in the run game and putting pressure on the quarterback without a ton of blitzes.

Iowa did two of those three well on Saturday night in its 55-24 win against No. 6 Ohio State. Let's take a look:

RUN EFFICIENCY

Kirk Ferentz has said on a few occasions this year that the Hawkeyes needed to get back to being much better in the run on first and second downs in order to put their offense — and their quarterback — in much more manageable situations in later downs.

Mission accomplished on Saturday night.

The Hawkeyes finished the game with 243 yards rushing on 38 carries, the lone rushing touchdown coming at the end of the game by Toren Young from six yards out — good for 6.4 yards per carry against a team that had allowed 2.9 yards per carry coming into Saturday.

Iowa set itself up for play-action and manageable throwing downs by being efficient on first down. The Hawkeyes carried 20 times on first downs for 81 yards, setting up an average of second and six. They got three big plays on second downs — a 30-yarder from Akrum Wadley, a 53-yarder from James Butler and a 34-yarder from Toren Young — which inflated their second down average to 12.7 yards per carry. In the other eight second-down carries, Iowa had 2.9 yards per carry.

The biggest success Iowa had all night was a credit to its offensive line, which gave the Hawkeyes running backs room to work up the middle. Offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz varied the direction a bit, but Iowa ran up the middle the most — 58 percent of Iowa rushes were in that direction. On 22 carries between the tackles — including the three big plays — Iowa rushed for 172 yards and the one touchdown, good for 7.8 yards per carry up the middle.

PASS EFFICIENCY

Nate Stanley had himself a night, finishing 20 of 31 for 226 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. He was particularly in-sync with his tight ends, completing five passes for 71 yards and two touchdowns to T.J. Hockenson and four passes for 54 yards and two touchdowns to Noah Fant.

Stanley even completed one of those touchdown passes to Hockenson with Buckeyes defensive end Sam Hubbard draped over his left leg, trying to bring him down. One of the Fant touchdowns was on a much-criticized deep ball — a 25-yarder in the right corner of the end zone.

Stanley's quarterback rating of 179 is among his highest this season, and saw his throws spread around the field pretty evenly.

He threw two deep balls (20 yards or more), one of which was the aforementioned touchdown and the other an overthrow to the left to Ihmir Smith-Marsette. Stanley saw minimal success in midrange throws to both sidelines, going 2 of 5 for 24 yards in the 10-20-yard range. Over the middle, though, those tight end throws were profitable, as he completed a pair of seam routes to Hockenson over the middle for 40 yards.

Stanley was most successful on short throws, letting his receivers and running backs do work after the catch. He was 9 of 10 for 72 yards and two touchdowns to his right on throws less than 10 yards and 3 of 5 over the middle for 30 yards and a single score.

All those numbers are more consistent and more efficient that the last two weeks combined.

DEFENSIVE PRESSURE

Iowa is known to play 'bend but don't break' defense, preferring to let its defensive line handle pressuring the quarterback and rarely bringing the blitz with its linebackers. That was the case again Saturday, and as a result, Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett saw very little pressure for much of the night when he dropped back to pass.

The Hawkeyes registered just one sack and one tackle for loss, and forced Barrett to move from the pocket just five times all game.

Iowa's lone sack came on one of the few designed blitzes as linebacker Ben Niemann got a hit on Barrett, forcing a fumble that Ohio State was able to recover. Anthony and Matt Nelson also combined to flush Barrett out of the pocket on a third and five in the third quarter that led to a bad throw and second straight three and out.

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