One weekend off was long enough.
Ohio State gets back to the grindstone this week as it prepares to start the back half of its regular season schedule against a Big Ten foe it hasn’t faced in half a decade.
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| IOWA HAWKEYES |
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3-3 ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
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NOON – SATURDAY, OCT. 22 OHIO STADIUM COLUMBUS, OHIO |
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FOX FOX SPORTS |
The second-ranked Buckeyes face a 3-3 Iowa program coming off a bye week of its own. Given the team’s struggles on offense through the first six games, a week to adjust – especially entering a matchup with Ohio State – was much needed.
Buckeye fans may still be scarred by the 31-point drubbing Iowa put on Ohio State in the teams’ last meeting, but the scarlet and gray will be favored by 27 when it hosts Kirk Ferentz’s 24th Hawkeye roster.
As the game week gets underway, here are five things to know about an Iowa team that will hope to spring another upset on the Buckeyes on Saturday.
Worst Offense in the Nation
No team in FBS football averages fewer yards per game than Iowa. The Hawkeyes are putting up just 238.8 yards per game, which ranks dead last in the nation at No. 131.
Iowa has finished two games with less than 200 yards of offense this season and scored seven points or less in three of its first six games. Iowa hasn’t scored more than 27 points in any game this season, and its average of 14.7 points per game ranks fourth-worst in America.
In their three most unimpressive outings on offense, Iowa scored 20 points and put up 537 total yards combined against South Dakota State, Iowa State and Illinois. Iowa has scored just seven touchdowns on offense this season, with five on the ground (No. 118 in the country) and only two through the air (tied-No. 129). Massachusetts is the lone team in FBS college football to throw fewer scores so far this season.
Iowa’s 156.7 yards per game with the pass rank 120th in the nation, and its rushing offense (81.2 yards per game) is even worse at 127th. One would think any team that hopes to beat Ohio State, which has the No. 1 scoring offense and No. 2 total offense, this season will have to do so by putting up big numbers on offense. Unfortunately for Iowa, that’s far from their strength.
Top-10 Defense in the FBS
The contrast between Iowa’s offensive and defensive units is jarring. While the Hawkeye offense has been nothing short of abhorrent through six games, the other side of the ball has mainly been sensational.
Iowa ranks among the top 25 teams in the country in every major defensive statistical category and in the top 10 in everything other than rushing defense (in which it ranks 24th). The Hawkeyes are one of just three teams in the country that are giving up fewer than 10 points per game on average, and only Illinois and Georgia have a higher-ranked scoring defense. Besides Michigan, which had its lowest point total of the season against Iowa (27), no team has scored more than 10 points in a single game against the Hawkeyes.
In terms of average yards allowed, the Hawkeyes rank seventh in the nation with an average of 264.7. More than 110 of those have come on the ground, but Iowa’s only giving up three yards per carry in the run game, and teams have combined to score all of two rushing touchdowns against Iowa this season.
Opposing passers are mustering a whopping 154 yards per game against the Hawkeyes, who rank third in the nation in pass defense. Opponents have thrown just three passing touchdowns while Iowa has picked up six passes, three of which coming from safety Cooper DeJean, who has five pass breakups overall.
Iowas Cooper DeJean: Highest graded CB through four weeks
— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 28, 2022
90.6 overall grade
0 TDs allowed
3 INTs pic.twitter.com/DnyfWat0I7
The Hawkeyes have created 10 turnovers this season, which ranks just 56th in the country, but that’s still four more than the Buckeyes have managed so far. On offense, though, Ohio State should give Iowa its toughest test of the year.
Worst start since 2008
Iowa’s 3-3 record is its worst six-game stretch to start a season since 2008 when the Hawkeyes dropped three straight through Week 6 before finishing 6-1 through the rest of the year.
Ferentz and company won at least four of their first games in each of the next 13 seasons, up until dropping to Illinois in a disappointing 9-6 result in Champaign before the bye week. It was Iowa’s second straight loss after a 27-14 defeat to Michigan the week prior and the program’s third loss in a five-game stretch.
The Illinois loss was not even the worst of the season for Iowa, which was upset by Iowa State in a 10-7 final score at home in Week 2. The loss only looks worse in retrospect, as the Cyclones have lost four straight games to open Big 12 play over the past month. Iowa had won its past six matchups with Iowa State dating back to 2015 and 13 of its last 14 games against Illinois before this season.
Ohio State is the only ranked team left on Iowa’s schedule, but its early struggles haven’t left a lot of hope for a complete turnaround heading into the back half of its regular season schedule.
The Hawkeyes have a 27-0 win over 2-5 Nevada on their résumé and a 27-10 victory against Rutgers. Even in a winning effort against South Dakota State in the season opener, Iowa’s 7-3 victory over an FCS opponent was a moral defeat.
Won last matchup with OSU
It’s been nearly five years since the last time Ohio State faced Iowa, and Buckeye fans will either remember it well or have blocked it entirely out of their memory.
Ranked No. 3 in the country with a loss already on its schedule heading into a Nov. 4, 2017 matchup in Iowa City, Ohio State was heavily favored to win its seventh straight game and remain in the College Football Playoff hunt despite dropping to Oklahoma Week 2.
But Ferentz and the Hawkeyes had other plans.
Iowa not only knocked Ohio State out of CFP contention but blew the Buckeyes out of the water entirely, finishing with a 55-24 upset that dropped OSU down to No. 11 in the AP poll and helped pull the Hawkeyes into the rankings despite having lost three games already.
Entering that weekend, Ohio State had won 13 of its last 14 games against Iowa, and the Buckeyes have yet to get a shot at revenge. While much of the personnel hast turned over since then, Ryan Day will still remember it well, as the contest took place during his first season in Columbus.
Putrid play from Petras
Entering his fifth season in the program, one would think Spencer Petras might have his best season under center for the Hawkeyes. But one would be wrong.
The veteran Iowa quarterback, whose numbers before this season were already rather unimpressive (19 touchdowns to 14 interceptions in the past two seasons), has been even worse in 2022. Petras is completing a career-low 54% of his passes, has thrown just two touchdowns to three interceptions and has a Big Ten second-worst 939 yards.
Petras’ passer rating of 103.5 is dead last in the conference and ranks outside the top 100 quarterbacks in FBS football, and it’s no wonder Iowa has struggled to put up points against just about every opponent it’s faced.
In Petras’ defense, the running game has been terrible as well, as its 2.6 yards per carry average is startlingly low and ranks fourth-worst in the country. Not to mention, the coaching staff should take the brunt of the blame in the first place.
But their struggles in both phases go hand-and-hand, and something will have to change for Iowa to have any chance at turning things around moving forward.
