Ohio State Proves Its Mettle in Rushing Offense, Rushing Defense Against Iowa

Like the sod surrounding the San Andreas fault line, Ohio State’s ground game received a test on Saturday.

Iowa entered the contest with the No. 4 rushing defense and the No. 10 rushing offense in college football. The Buckeyes were No. 3 and No. 15 in those same categories but had faced three non-conference Group of Five teams and a Michigan State squad that weren’t exactly causing any earthquakes pounding the rock or stopping it.

“That was the challenge coming in,” Ryan Day said. “We said, ‘60 minutes of inside drill’ and figure out where we are running the ball and stopping the run. So we have a reference point moving forward. I think this can give us a lot of confidence moving forward. It was a big challenge to our entire team about physicality and toughness. I thought we answered that.”

Ohio State held Iowa to 4.3 yards per carry and 116 rushing yards total while averaging 5.1 yards per rushing attempt – with 7.3 yards per carry in the first half – and collecting 203 rushing yards in its own right during a 35-7 Big Ten win.

Before Saturday, Iowa had rushed for more than 200 yards and held its opponents under 100 rushing yards in all of its first four games.

“Run the football, stop the run,” Day said. “And it starts with the guys up front. I thought the offensive line played hard. I thought Justin (Frye) prepared them. I thought the plan was good with everybody on the offensive staff. I thought Chip put a good game plan together, called a good game. I thought our running backs ran hard again.”

The Buckeyes have averaged at least 5.1 yards per carry in each of their five contests in 2024 and are at 6.2 yards per attempt on the season.

In 2023, Ohio State struggled like it rarely has in recent program memory to run the ball. Its 4.2 yards per carry was the worst for an Ohio State team since 2004, and the Buckeyes were held under 100 rushing yards in three separate contests.

Quandaries – good or bad – with a running game often start on the offensive line. The position group may have been the most maligned on Ohio State’s outfit a year ago, but the left-to-right combination of Josh Simmons, Donovan Jackson, Seth McLaughlin, Tegra Tshabola (also Austin Siereveld at times) and Josh Fryar is off to an awesome start this season. In addition to the team’s rushing gains, they’ve allowed just four sacks in five games.

“We knew we had a lot of experience,” Jackson said. “And the guys who don't have it, we knew that they're very talented, so they're gonna come along with us. So just having that mindset and that physicality – running the ball is kind of a badge of honor for an O-line. You want to run the ball. You want to get after it. You want to see your running backs run down the field, and that's a sense of pride you have.”

There were no 70- or 80-yard touchdown runs for Ohio State against Iowa, just a lot of solid chunk gains. Out of 24 carries from Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, 12 went for five yards or more and five went for at least 10. Judkins had 78 yards on 13 carries (six yards per carry) and Henderson had 61 on 11 (5.5).

The Hawkeyes have weapons to stop such assaults, with a vaunted defensive tackle tandem in Aaron Graves and Yahya Black plus a superstar linebacker, Jay Higgins, who had 171 tackles last year and another 14 with a forced fumble on Saturday. But the Buckeyes bit down on their mouthguards and plowed forward.

“When you look at what we finished with, you're like, ‘Alright, it's pretty nice,’” Jackson said. “This is a great defense. They're known for not giving up a lot on the run. They'll give you an advantageous box, but they're just like, ‘Hey, our guys are more disciplined than your guys and you're not going to execute your plays.’ Just being able to run our offense, have a confident front of guys getting after it, having great coaches that give us the techniques needed to combat the two-gapping technique, it's just a really fun feeling.”

“it starts with the guys up front.”– Ryan Day on Ohio State's ground game success

Contrary to the dozen 5-yard-plus carries picked up by Judkins and Henderson, Kaleb Johnson, Iowa’s star running back, had just four scattered across 15 carries. Strip away his two 28-yard runs – the first of which came on missed tackles from Cody Simon and Sonny Styles and the second of which came against OSU’s second-team defense – and Johnson would have finished with a meager 30 yards on 13 carries.

“The defense really showed up,” Day said. “It started off with a really good week of Tuesday and Wednesday (practice). We had our second offensive line go down and give a great look. Tuesday was OK. Wednesday was much better. And then the guys really showed up on Saturday. So if we can keep grinding on these Tuesday and Wednesday practices, we can keep building on this.”

Styles missed that tackle attempt but had perhaps the best game of his Ohio State career otherwise. Racking up a team-high seven tackles with two tackles for loss, Styles responded to a rough performance at Michigan State a week ago with a major step in his development after moving to linebacker from safety.

“I thought I just played free,” Styles said. “I started doing a tradition with my grandparents where I pray with them before games. I pray for confidence and them and God and things like that. I feel like when you play with that confidence, you just play more free and just go fast. Don't worry about anything.”

Day was quick to point out that a linebacker’s instincts are something that takes experience to develop. Higgins and former Buckeye backer Tommy Eichenberg were his examples, both players who blossomed later in their careers.

“Some of the great linebackers that are out there, they've played a lot, they've seen a lot, they're able to diagnose plays,” Day said. “The more Sonny plays, the more he's able to learn and diagnose those plays faster. ... Good to see Sonny get more and more of those reps because every rep he gets invests in his future, he'll play faster and faster.”

Styles was far from the only standout on defense. Simon had six tackles alongside him and Ohio State’s defensive line proved immovable in stretches of the game. Nose guard Ty Hamilton had five tackles and a sack and defensive end Jack Sawyer had 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.

But Styles wanted to establish a level of physicality from the linebacker spot and play downhill, and his play definitely accomplished that challenge against the Hawkeyes.

“I think it brings confidence to the whole defense,” Styles said. “I think in terms of a tough defense, I feel like that has to start with the linebackers coming downhill and setting the tone. Obviously, you've got to have a great D-line, great DBs. Safeties cracking plays. But I feel like the linebackers gotta run the show. They've got to be the ones that everyone is feeding off their toughness.”

The stiffest test so far for Ohio State as a team is ahead next week, however. Forget a top-10 rushing team, the Buckeyes hit the road against what will very likely be a top-five-ranked Oregon team, which means Ohio State must continue building on its ground-game success.

“We're not getting complacent at all,” Jackson said. “We know that there's still a lot to do, but we're happy with what we've done so far.”