Ohio State’s offense will face one of its toughest tests of the season when it goes up against Iowa’s defense on Saturday.
The Buckeyes’ second-half-of-the-season opener against the Hawkeyes isn’t expected to be close on the scoreboard, and that’s because of how bad Iowa’s offense has been. The Hawkeyes rank dead last in the FBS with only 238.8 yards of offense per game this season and have scored only seven offensive touchdowns in six games, so the Buckeyes’ defense really shouldn’t have any trouble shutting down Iowa’s offense.
Iowa’s defense, however, is capable of giving the Buckeyes more trouble than they’ve had in most of their games this season. The Hawkeyes rank third in the country in points allowed per game (9.8) and second in yards allowed per play (3.8), and ESPN’s Bill Connelly ranks Iowa’s defense as the most efficient in the entire country in his SP+ rankings.
Ohio State’s offense shouldn’t need to be at its best for the Buckeyes to beat Iowa this weekend. But Saturday’s game will provide a measuring stick of whether Ohio State’s offense is truly as elite as it’s looked so far.
“You're in the back half of the Big Ten, so it's not easy,” Ohio State offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said Tuesday. “You can cosmetically look at it (as) easy. You can say it is what it is with numbers and what it should be. But you play this time of year with elements. You play this time of year where you truly start showing if you're tough and you’re physical and you’re disciplined and you play with respect and you have good preparation. I love the way our kids practiced last week, liked the quick start we had yesterday, but we're in the stretch where you find out what kind of football team you’ve got, and it's gonna be a great test on Saturday.”
Since scoring only 21 points in the season opener against Notre Dame, Ohio State’s offense has been dominant. The Buckeyes have scored at least 45 points in all of their last five games to become the highest-scoring offense in the country (48.8 points per game); they also led the FBS in yards per offensive play (8.07) and rank second in total yards per game (543.7). Per the aforementioned SP+ metrics, Saturday’s game will be a matchup between the best offense and the best defense in the country, as Ohio State leads the nation in offensive efficiency.
If the Buckeyes’ offense can be as productive against Iowa as it has been in its last five games, Ohio State will strengthen its claim to having the best offense in the country. But the Hawkeyes might also be capable of exposing flaws that the Buckeyes’ previous opponents couldn’t, which gives the Buckeyes incentive to continue chasing improvement this week.
“They're very good in what they do,” Ryan Day said of Iowa’s defense. “And just the minute you think that they're not going to change it up, they do, and they’re very well-coached. So there's a reason why they're ranked so high year in and year out. They’re one of the better defenses in the country. They do a great job, so this will certainly be a challenge for the offense.”
Ohio State has excelled at both making big plays and finishing off drives in the red zone this season, but Iowa’s defense has also excelled at stopping offenses from doing both of those things. While Ohio State is tied with Tennessee for the national lead with 24 plays of 30-plus yards this season, Iowa leads the country with only three 30-yard plays allowed and is the only team in the country that has yet to allow a 40-yard play. Ohio State has scored every time it’s been in the red zone and has only settled for field goals twice on 29 red zone trips, but Iowa ranks in the top five nationally with only five touchdowns allowed on 15 opposing red zone possessions.
Both Day and Wilson are pleased with how balanced the offense has been this season and how effectively they’ve been able to both run and pass the ball in the red zone, but they know the Hawkeyes will force the Buckeyes to be at their best in that regard.
“I think we've had good balance. I think we've been able to run the football down there when we needed to, but also, we've thrown the ball well. And that's going to be important as we head into the second half of the season,” Day said. “Just because we've done it leading up to this point doesn’t mean it's going to happen again.”
As the Buckeyes come out of a bye week straight into facing one of the best defenses they’ll play all year to start a stretch of what they hope will be seven games in seven weeks, including a Big Ten Championship Game, the message from Day and Wilson on Tuesday was clear: They can’t be satisfied with the success they’ve had so far.
“There's a whole bunch that we got to get better at,” Day said. “And I think our guys know that. I think that's why they come in hungry every day to get better. We know the issues are there, and we have to identify those and be introspective enough to recognize those and get them fixed after a game, even if we've had a lot of success. And then the other thing is just staying disciplined enough not to think that you've arrived or that you have a really good offense. It doesn't mean anything going into this game.
“We got to bring it every single week, and that's why practice is so critically important. Taking pride in your execution, playing with a great pad level, understanding how important the ball is, playing really good in situational football. All these things don't just happen because we've done it in the past or that we have good players or whatever. We have to bring it every single week. And that's the competitive stamina we've been talking about. And we're gonna have to do it again on Saturday.”
Ohio State’s offense could potentially get a boost from the return of star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, as both Day and Wilson talked Tuesday as if Smith-Njigba will be back on the field sooner than later, although no concrete update was provided on his status for this week. The Buckeyes will also hope to have TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams healthy at running back after both dealt with injuries in Ohio State’s past two games. However, their statuses were not addressed on Tuesday.
When a team is as sharp as Ohio State was before the bye week, there’s always the concern that a week off could slow momentum, and playing Iowa’s highly-ranked defense increases that concern for the Buckeyes’ offense. But Day and Wilson believe they put in the work they needed to during the bye week to start the second half of the year strong.
“I think the energy's been really good,” Day said. “I think our guys have just had a lot of juice about them, even in the off week. Sometimes you feel a lull during that time. I don't feel like that at all. But it's great to get them back. I think a couple of days away reenergized them even more though coming back into the Woody yesterday.”
“We're in the stretch where you find out what kind of football team you’ve got, and it's gonna be a great test on Saturday.”– Kevin Wilson
Wilson believes the challenge the Buckeyes have in front of them against Iowa’s defense has motivated them to push even harder in their preparation this week.
“The guys know, there's not been a lot of rah-rah, ‘Hey, come on now, these guys are better.’ The tape shows that they're really, really good,” Wilson said. “And for us to be a really strong offense, when you play the best defenses, you show what you really are. So we'll see in these games and the games coming up, to have a great season, have a chance to be a great team, have a chance to be a tough team, have a chance to be a strong team because in these games, you start showing what it is.
“Our players know it. They don't have to be motivated (by the coaches). The motivation is coming off the open date down the stretch, our football team learning how to play championship football in October and in November, and we'll see if we’re that kind of team.”
