The Hawks put themselves in an early hole, with Brown fumbling on their first series and OSU recovering at their 14-yard line. In the blink of an eye Ohio State was up 7 – 0 and it never felt good from there on out. Iowa did pass on multiple first downs and attempted 32 pass attempts to 21 rushes. And the Hawks did end the day with 199 yards passing, but it was nowhere near enough to consistently move the ball down the field and score points. Not to mention keep OSU’s offense off the field by competing in the possession game with a reliable rushing attack.
The final score and way that OSU got there was close to what many predicted. However, Iowa ended the day with a mere 39 total yards rushing against an OSU rush defense that appeared to be more vulnerable than recent years pass. And Brown was regularly hurried, sacked multiple times, and as mentioned started off Iowa’s first series with a fumble as he was being sacked deep in Iowa’s own territory.
Advertisement
Iowa started this season with a stable of running backs and an offensive line that looked like it picked up from where it left off last season. Now we are left wondering if the Hawks can establish a running game against a solid defensive opponent.
Some of our worst fears were realized as OSU’s lethal passing one-two punch came to fruition. One of college football’s most accurate passers, Julian Sayin, was 20/27 for 74% for 324 yards. Jeremiah Smith had 206 of those yards by himself as his record setting season continued. The best news about Smith is that since he’s now broken most every record he can and is a third-year player it’s likely this will be the last time Iowa has to face him.
The other good news is that Iowa just faced two stout defenses and finished the opening act 1 – 1, and we can only hope some of the worst is over as they prepare to head west to Washington.
Zach Lutmer left the game injured in the third quarter and was taken to the locker room. Deshaun Lee also was injured in the third quarter and was on the sideline later in the game without his helmet. During his post-game comments Kirk Fertentz did say that some of the players that came out during the game were cramping up, so time will tell while Iowa has a short week to get ready for their next opponent.
Advertisement
Special teams was once again a consistent performer for Iowa for the most part. Boston Everitt had 2 punts downed inside the 20 with at least one downed at the three-yard line. Caden Buhr was 2/2 on his field goal attempts with a long of 48. The special team’s only self-inflicted wound was the second half kickoff that went out of bounds and let OSU start at the 35.
Jeremy Hecklinski did enter the game in the fourth quarter and provided some energy and a positive drive that included 5/5 passing for 67 yards and a touchdown topped with a two-point conversion to bring Iowa to a respectable (not embarrassing?) 14 points on the day. It was good to see Heck get additional game experience to keep him ready when called upon.
To end with a grounded, forward-looking perspective, at the start of this season we all knew that Iowa’s first three Big Ten games to open the season would be a gauntlet. Many felt that if Iowa could escape those three games 1 – 2 and open the first six games at 4 – 2 it was a realistic expectation, and perhaps as good as could be hoped for. Now Iowa turns towards Washington, a team that currently does not appear to be as daunting as originally expected. Iowa will start their front end loaded schedule at no worse than 4-2 with the possibility of getting to 5 – 1 heading into their bye week.
