Ryan Day met with the assembled media yesterday after an open week gave the Buckeyes some extra rest ahead of Saturday's clash with the Iowa Hawkeyes.
A Big Noon showdown in the Horseshoe, Ohio State faces an Iowa team with a dreadful offense but certainly a notable defensive unit that currently sits No. 3 in the nation in both pass defense and scoring defense.
As Day explained yesterday, the Iowa defense has his attention.
They're very good. we've been working very hard trying to figure out how to attack them. They're very good in what they do... There's a reason why they're ranked so high (on defense)... this will certainly be a challenge for our offense.– Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day
The metrics indeed say the Hawkeyes are to be respected on defense. Beyond the passing and scoring defense metrics ranking in the top-3 nationally, the Hawkeyes are also No. 3 in 10+ yards from scrimmage plays allowed, No. 7 in total defense and No. 24 in rushing defense.
But while Iowa's collective defensive metrics look impressive, it's a fair argument those numbers are also influenced by the Hawkeyes playing against some pretty awful offenses so far in 2022.
| OPPONENT | RUSH OFF RANK | PASS OFF RANK | TOT OFF RANK | SCOR OFF RANK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAN DIEGO ST | 46 | 127 | 126 | 119 |
| IOWA STATE | 119 | 46 | 87 | 103 |
| NEVADA | 99 | 118 | 122 | 110 |
| RUTGERS | 61 | 115 | 111 | 104 |
| MICHIGAN | 9 | 76 | 22 | 7 |
| ILLINOIS | 29 | 93 | 62 | 87 |
Through six games, Iowa's faced just one top-50 passing offense (Iowa State), one top-60 total offense (Michigan) and one top-85 scoring offense (also Michigan).
Hell, four of Iowa's opponents rank No. 103 or worse in scoring offense and another four rank No. 93 or worse in passing offense.
So let's go back to Michigan, the one respectable offense Iowa's faced thus far. To their credit, the Hawkeyes held the Wolverines to 172 yards rushing on 4.1 yards per carry, both well-below Michigan's season averages of 241 yards per game and 5.8 yards per attempt.
Iowa also held Michigan on 4-of-11 third downs (36%) which is a tick below its season third down coverage rate of 49%.
Of course, Michigan's passing game hasn't struck fear in opponents this year and Iowa had little trouble keeping it in check holding the Wolverines to 155 yards versus their season average of 232 yards per game. The Hawkeyes also held Michigan to 27 points versus the Wolverines season-to-date average of 42.7.
Turning focus to Ohio State's offensive juggernaut, the Buckeye run game is averaging 6.0 yards per carry, or 0.2 more yards than Michigan on the season and we saw Iowa hold the Wolverines to 1.7 yards below their per carry average. With Day hoping to have his top two tailbacks available behind what has been a strong offensive line, it'll be fun to watch how the Buckeyes fare against the Hawkeyes front seven.
Through the air however, the Hawkeyes haven't seen anything like Ohio State's passing game this season. Averaging 320 passing yards per game, good for No. 15 in the land, the Buckeyes average nearly 50 more yards than Iowa State's No. 46 ranked passing game.
Again, most importantly, the goal is keep teams from scoring and while the Hawkeyes held Michigan to 15 points below it's season average, stunting a more-balanced Ohio State offense churning out 48.8 points per contest should prove to be a much tougher test.
