No. 7 Iowa 20, No. 3 Ohio State 14: The Bucks stop here!

IOWA CITY — P.T. Barnum didn't have a thing to do with what went on down here Saturday. But he could have.

Even old P.T. wouldn't have had enough show rings to handle the goings on of this day. There was a morning exhibition by the basketball team and another by the wrestlers, the sight of two marching bands, the presence of a national television network, an appearance by Gene Kelly, and the honoring of some heroes from yesteryear, the 1958 Iowa Hawkeyes.

Into this circus of celebration stepped the Ohio State Buckeyes, the nation's third-ranked college football team. Strong, calm, methodical, and intent on proving what Barnum always said, that there's a sucker born every minute.

Unfortunately, they turned out to be the suckers.

With a record 66,175 fans in attendance and several million more viewing on television, the Iowa Hawkeyes (the 1983 version) bounced back in the second half to defeat Ohio State for the first time in 21 years, 20-14, Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

The crowning blow was a 73-yard touchdown pass from Chuck Long to Dave Moritz with 4:25 remaining in the game which upped the Iowa lead to 20-7. The Hawkeyes, faced with third down and 6 yards to go at their own 27-yard line, appeared likely to take the conservative route — run the ball up the middle to get the clock moving, then punt it away.

Instead, Long faked to a back, 'suckering' in the defense, and threw long up the left sideline to Moritz, who was a step ahead of cornerback Shaun Gayle. The pass hit him in stride and Moritz, who's supposed to be slow, zigzagged across the field and somehow outran the speedy Gayle to the goal line.

It was a gamble, to say the least.

'But everything turned out Hawkeye today,' beamed Iowa Coach Hayden Fry.

'This was a great, great victory.'

How great was it? Some observers whispered that it might be the biggest in Iowa football history. Fry stopped just short of that.

'It's as great as any victory I've ever been associated with,' he said. 'I won't say it's THE biggest, but it certainly is among the biggest in-season victories I've had. It's not every day that you knock off the No. 3 team in the nation.'

For the record, it was the first time since 1962 that Iowa defeated Ohio State, snapping a string of 16 straight losses. It also broke the Buckeyes' nine-game winning streak, dating back to the middle of last season.

The victory wasn't quite sealed with Moritz's TD, however. Ohio State quarterback Mike Tomczak, a clear-cut loser in his personal duel with Long, drove his team back down the field in the next two minutes, firing a 4-yard TD pass to Vaughn Broadnax with 2:21 to go.

The extra point kick brought the Buckeyes to within six, 20-14, but Fred Bush covered the ensuing onside kick for Iowa. Long and company managed to run the clock down to 0:40 before handing it back to Ohio State on downs.

Tomczak threw incomplete twice then had his next pass caught by Iowa defensive back Devon Mitchell. Mitchell, who had an interception in the final seconds against Penn State a week ago, danced out of bounds with 22 seconds left and everyone wearing black and gold heaved a sigh of relief.

Except for about 200 students who stormed the field and dismantled the north goal post in celebration.

Almost everyone pointed to the Long to Moritz bomb as the big play of the game.

'He (Long) really knocked us out with that long touchdown pass in the fourth quarter,' said Ohio State coach Earle Bruce.

'They (the Buckeyes) had on what we call double lightning,' said Fry, explaining that that meant everyone but the water boys (and maybe Gayle) would be blitzing.

'It was just a matter of us getting protection for Chuck. Of course, I'm sure they though we'd run the ball in that situation. I gambled and it worked.'

Very little worked for the Hawks in the first half, however. They drove down the field to score on a 24-yard field goal by Tommy Nichol the first time they had the ball but after that it was pretty much a Buckeye half.

Ohio State took a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter as tailback Keith Byars ripped off a 46-yard gain, then scored seconds later on a one-yard drive over the top.

Byars rushed for 48 yards in the first half but suffered a bruised knee late in the second quarter and did not return.

Fry presumably borrowed a whip and a chair from one of Barnum's lion trainers when talking to his Hawkeyes in the lockeroom at halftime.

They came out snarling in the third quarter. After a short Ohio State punt, they stampeded 50 yards in five plays with tight end Mike Hufford snaring a pass from Long in the end zone on the 16-yard touchdown play,

Hufford had a 10-yard reception earlier in the drive and had a career high five catches for 74 yards.

The Buckeyes put together a drive of their own after that, moving to the Iowa 28 before running out of downs. Another Hufford, defensive tackle Paul, hatted down Tomczak's pass at the line on fourth down.

Long threw his first interception of the season on the Hawks' next possession, Garcia Lane picking it off. But Mike Stoops intercepted for Iowa two plays later as Tomczak was harried by the rush of tackle George Little.

A hobbling catch by wingback Ronnie Harmon gained 27 yards a few seconds later, setting up Nichol's second field goal, a 47-yarder with the wind.

That made it 13-7, which was the score until Long and Moritz hooked up late in the contest.

Long provided most of the Iowa offense, completing 16 of 26 passes for 276 yards. He also was the team's leading rusher, collecting 35 yards in 13 carries.

The Hawks' ground attack was silenced by the Ohio State defense as the trio of Owen Gill, Eddie Phillips and Norm Granger managed just 74 yards in 31 attempts.

Ohio State pounded out 212 yards on the ground but Tomczak, the nation's leading passer entering the game, was the picture of frustration, He completed 13 of 34 for just 125 yards and had three intercepted.

'I'd hate to have to play against our defense,' confessed a sympathetic Long.

Fry admitted that he made use of the fact that Ohio State supporters have often complained they were prevented from going to the Rose Bowl twice because they didn't play Iowa the last two years. The implication has been that the Buckeyes would have easily beaten the Hawks both years and Fry wielded the insult like a cattle prod.

'They've been hollering about not playing us,' smiled Fry. 'They can play us every year now.

'I guess we weren't just playing for this season out there. We were playing for the last two seasons, too,'

The Buckeyes, now 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten, host Minnesota next Saturday. Iowa will take its 3-0 and 1-0 marks to Illinois.

The Hawks, ranked seventh in the nation this week, will undoubtedly take an even loftier national ranking to Champaign, too.

'We had some good national coverage today,' said Long. 'I think some people are going to start looking for the Hawks now. Hopefully, we opened some eyes out there.'