The box score from Ohio State’s 55-24 loss to Iowa on Saturday was ugly in just about every facet for the Buckeyes.
The final score pretty much told the story in itself, as Ohio State was defeated by 31 points – the same margin of defeat the Buckeyes suffered in their shutout loss to Clemson at the end of last season.
That was far from the only statistic, however, that was lopsided in Iowa’s favor in Saturday’s game, a game in which the Hawkeyes outgained the Buckeyes with 487 yards to Ohio State’s 371.
The following three statistics played a big part in why Saturday’s game at Kinnick Stadium went so badly for Ohio State.
Iowa’s tight ends catch nine passes for 125 yards and four touchdowns
Covering the tight end position has been a recurring problem when Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes have played Kirk Ferentz’s Hawkeyes.
When Iowa came to Ohio State in 2013, Hawkeyes tight ends Jake Duzey, C.J. Fiedorowicz and George Kittle combined for 11 catches for 183 yards and two touchdowns. While the Buckeyes didn’t give up as many catches or yards to Iowa’s tight ends in Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, they allowed the tight ends to do more meaningful damage, as T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant each scored two touchdowns apiece.
Those accounted for four of Nate Stanley’s five passing touchdowns in Saturday’s game, with the other being scored by a fullback (Drake Kulick).
Hockenson caught a total of five passes for 71 yards, while Fant caught four passes for 54 yards.
While Ohio State’s cornerbacks were mostly effective in Saturday’s game, holding Iowa’s wide receivers to only seven total catches for 59 yards, the Buckeyes’ linebackers and safeties were frequently victimized in pass coverage – much like they were in Ohio State’s only other loss this season to Oklahoma – and especially by Hockenson and Fant.
Iowa’s running backs average 6.4 yards per carry
Ohio State’s defense has prided itself on stifling its opponents in the run game this season, but that wasn’t the case against Iowa on Saturday.
After holding its first eight opponents to an average of 2.9 yards per carry, Ohio State allowed Iowa to rush for more than double that average, after holding each of its first eight opponents to less than 4.5 yards per carry.
Akrum Wadley led Iowa’s running game with 118 yards on 20 carries, while backup running back James Butler had 74 yards on 10 carries and third-string running back Toren Young had 47 yards on five carries. Even with all of their success, the Hawkeyes’ yards per carry average was also bolstered by their punter, Colten Rastetter, who gained seven yards on a fake punt run.
While Iowa scored five of its six offensive touchdowns through the air, with Young scoring the only rushing touchdown on the Hawkeyes’ final possession, it was the ground game making big plays and moving the chains down the field that set up those passing touchdowns, all of which came inside 25 yards.
Ohio State defensive end Tyquan Lewis, the only Buckeye defensive player who spoke to the media after Saturday’s game, said he felt sick to his stomach about how poorly the Buckeyes performed in rushing defense.
"It’s a punch to the gut when somebody runs the ball down the defense for that much," Lewis said.
Ohio State loses four turnovers, Iowa loses zero
When one team wins the turnover battle by a significant margin, that team usually wins the game, and that was certainly the case in Saturday’s game.
Ohio State’s four turnovers, more than the Buckeyes had lost all season or in any of their last 31 games, all came on interceptions by Buckeyes quarterback J.T. Barrett, who had never previously thrown four interceptions in a game in his collegiate career. Three of those interceptions were made by Iowa cornerback Josh Jackson, a Bednarik Award semifinalist who showed why he is considered to be one of the best defensive backs in college football.
On the other end of the equation, Ohio State failed to force a single turnover. In a game where the Buckeyes really needed to come up with big plays to turn the momentum of the game, Ohio State’s defense was never able to deliver.
Saturday’s game was the first game in Meyer’s tenure as coach that Ohio State finished a game with a minus-four turnover margin.
