Despite the memes about Iowa’s offense through the years, the Hawkeyes have had well-coached teams. The 2024 edition is no different. Iowa fields a top-tier defense and an anemic offense. For two quarters of Ohio State and Iowa, that formula kept it close. However, for the Buckeyes, the second half proved to be the difference.
Strong Second Half Propels Ohio State Past Iowa, 35-7
The first-half offense for the all-gray-clad Buckeyes was dealing body blows in the hopes that it wore the Hawkeyes down. After a touchdown on the first drive, Ohio State turned it over on downs, lost a fumble, punted, and threw an interception. A 7-0 halftime lead was not what Ryan Day envisioned and was everything Kirk Ferentz dreamed of. Then, Ohio State went on a four-touchdowns-on-four-drives run that put the game out of reach.
Overall, there were plenty of positives from the latest Big Ten clash.
Something Had to Give
Iowa possessed one of the top rushing defenses in the country. Heading into the game, the Hawkeyes had allowed 62 yards per game, good for the fourth-best mark in the nation. On 39 rushes (minus the kneel-down), Ohio State combined for 203 yards. Iowa did well enough to keep both superstar backs out of the endzone but Will Howard was able to take a read option around the end to paydirt. As a team, the Buckeyes averaged 5.2 yards per carry.
Heading into this game, Iowa had yet to allow a touchdown on the ground and held opponents to 2.3 yards per carry.
Those aforementioned superstars, Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, ran the ball 24 times for 139 yards. In total, Ohio State managed eight rushes of at least 10 yards on the ground, led by Henderson’s three.
After this performance, Iowa has dropped to 15th in the nation in rushing defense. This game will help the Buckeyes move forward with four of the top nine rushing defenses left on the schedule.
Pick Your Poison
It was known that Iowa’s weakness on defense was its secondary. Considering how stout the run defense was to this point in the season, it was not much of a cognitive leap. Even then, Howard and the Buckeyes’ offense did not take advantage well, despite the number of touchdowns.
Through four games, Iowa was allowing 210.8 yards per game through the air. Howard finished with 209. Despite not lighting it up in the way past Buckeye quarterbacks have (SEE: C.J. Stroud vs. Michigan State), he was efficient. The Kansas State transfer finished 21-of-25 with four touchdowns and one interception. He had as many incompletions as he had touchdowns. Interception or not, that’s not a bad line.
With all of the well-earned attention on Jeremiah Smith (four catches, 89 yards, one touchdown; one rush, 14 yards), it was time for Emeka Egbuka to make his mark. In his career, Egbuka had logged multi-touchdown games just twice before this one. He hauled in two touchdowns in wins over Wisconsin (2022) and Western Michigan (2023). Against Iowa, Egbuka found the endzone three times off nine catches and totaled 71 yards.
Egbuka returned to Ohio State after a disappointing 2023 and so far, it’s paid off. He’s turning heads and reminding scouts and casual fans alike. He’s well on his way to etching his name in the Ohio State record books. Egbuka is 48 receptions, 609 yards, and 13 touchdowns away from topping the leaderboard in all three categories.
Feeling Them Out
Once again, the first-half defense had fans crying that the sky was falling. In reality, Jim Knowles’ defense was feeling out the Iowa offense. In the first half, the Hawkeye offense punted four times and had two three-and-outs. The second drive of the day for Iowa went 42 yards off 10 plays and resulted in a missed field goal. Ohio State held Iowa to a grand total of 90 yards of offense in the first half.
Then, to make matters worse for Iowa, when it rained, it poured. The Ohio State defense was the catalyst for that four-touchdown effort to start the second half. The first three Iowa drives ended with turnovers via two fumbles and a Denzel Burke interception off a tipped pass at the line.
When the dust settled, Iowa managed 226 total yards of offense. Of those 226 yards, 168 came off of three drives. Those drives resulted in that missed field goal, the interception, and the Hawkeyes’ lone touchdown against the second-team defense. Kaleb Johnson provided the Buckeyes with bulletin board material in the days leading up to the game. His final carry was a 28-yard touchdown. Taking away his two top carries (both for 28 yards in the second half), Johnson managed 13 carries for 30 yards.
Ohio State finished with four sacks, nine tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and an interception.
Now, Ohio State gets to travel to Eugene, Oregon for a matchup of the number two and number three teams in the nation.
