COLUMBUS, OHIO – No. 2 Ohio State (7-0, 4-0) defeated Iowa (3-4, 1-3), 54-10, on Saturday at Ohio Stadium.
Ohio State clearly was out for revenge on Iowa after nearly five years of bragging by Hawkeye fans. The Iowa football team got one of its biggest wins, ever, in November of 2017 when the Hawkeyes clubbed third-ranked Ohio State, 55-24, in Kinnick Stadium. Ohio State would get that revenge Saturday.
Iowa led 7-3 in this game after a fumble recovery and return for touchdown by the Hawkeyes, early in the first quarter. From there, Iowa never sniffed the end zone again. Awful play on offense and a QB change were enough to doom Iowa once again in this game.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
DL Joe Evans’ sack forced a fumble of C.J. Stroud on the first play of Ohio State’s second series. Evans recovered the fumble and returned it 13 yards for his first career touchdown, giving Iowa a 7-3 lead. It was Evans’ third sack of the season and second career forced fumble (vs. Minnesota, 2021).
LB Jack Campbell had an interception on the first play of the third quarter. It was his first interception of the season and fourth career pick. Campbell has forced a turnover in consecutive games.
Campbell finished with a team high nine tackles. He has eight or more tackles in all seven games and has 71 tackles this season.
QB Alex Padilla made his season debut, finishing 5-for-10 for 32 yards and one interception. He played the second half.
TE Sam LaPorta made six catches for 55 yards to lead the team and become the Iowa leader in career receptions amongst Hawkeye tight ends, passing Marv Cook (126). LaPorta has 131 receptions for 1,462 yards. The yardage total ranks 25th all-time — third-most amongst Iowa tight ends.
WR Diante Vines made his season debut after missing the first six games because of injury. Vines made his first career catch in the second quarter.
K Drew Stevens connected on a 49-yard field goal in the second quarter. It was the second-longest field goal of his career; he is now 2-of-3 beyond 40 yards this season.
MISCELLANEOUS
Iowa’s defense allowed four first-half field goals after Ohio State started drives in Hawkeye territory (29, 23, 34, 32-yard lines). Ohio State’s second touchdown came via a pick six.
The Hawkeyes limited Ohio State to 360 yards and just 66 on the ground. The Buckeyes entered the game averaging 543.7 yards of total offense and 228.0 rushing yards per game.
Iowa’s defense has now scored three touchdowns (DeJean pick six and Merriweather fumble return at Rutgers) and recorded two safeties this season for 22 total defensive points.
Iowa won the toss and elected to receive. The Hawkeyes have played 295 games under head coach Kirk Ferentz. Iowa has opened the game on offense 217 times (138-79). The Hawkeyes have opened the game on defense 78 times (43-35).
INSTANT REPLAY
Ohio State TD reception (confirmed)
Iowa fumble (confirmed)
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return to action Oct. 29, hosting Northwestern for Homecoming at 2:30 p.m. (CT) in Kinnick Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
