The start to the day Saturday was fantastic. Great weather. Great GameDay experience for all involved. The fans were ready. They believed. Iowa City was buzzing Friday and Saturday in anticipation of this game.
But I went into all of this with such low expectations. It’s Ohio State, after all. I’ll probably say that a lot in this. It’s Ohio State. GameDay’s last visit to Iowa, in 2006, was against #1 Ohio State. The trip before that, in 1996, was against #2 Ohio State. Iowa got stomped in both games. And it’s Ohio State! In this sport, they make Iowa a sacrifice nearly every time they play. The teams come out of the tunnels, you’re scaling each other up, and Ohio State is the Monstars. All the talent in the sport at their disposal. You can have a good game plan, be ready to play, have everyone firing, and it still probably doesn’t matter. They lean on you all day and eventually, they body bag you.
Despite hanging in there at 10-6 before halftime, once Jeremiah Smith crossed the goal line with 12 seconds left in the first half to go up 17-6, I turned it off. No reason to see anymore, because this is going to get worse. So that’s what I did – turned this off and went to an Oktoberfest party. That was way more entertaining than watching this really fun and promising Iowa team get ground down by this insane Ohio State war machine.
This all makes it sound like the season is suddenly over and I’m hugely disappointed Iowa lost. It’s not, and I’m not disappointed! This was a free hit after the win at Michigan, a free shot at the national title favorite, and Iowa didn’t do it. In the end this is a flush it game. I still believe this Iowa team is pretty good. They have skill players, for once. Special teams are good again. The defense has had some softer moments but it’s also a really young group that will continue to get better over time. It’s just…it’s Ohio State. They do this multiple times a season, so I won’t be too down after that. Iowa moved the ball well at times Saturday but had some crucial errors, they’re much better at the skill positions but has no one in the universe of Jeremiah Smith, and this is a touchdown game and early on Iowa was kicking field goals. Put 3 instead of a 7 on the board against Ohio State and they’ll eventually crush you and that’s what happened. Move on to Friday and be ready for the short week. The season rides on Friday night in Seattle.
Other thoughts:
- If you can’t enjoy Jeremiah Smith, that’s a you problem. That dude rocks. I wish I’d been in Iowa City for a plethora of reasons Saturday and seeing him in person was one of those reasons. He’s one of the two or three best players in this sport in the last 20 years. He’s in that Saquon Barkley/Reggie Bush phylum of talents. Deshaun Lee and the Iowa secondary mostly did ok, and then Ohio State would run the “throw it up to Jeremiah” play and hey, it works every time. Dude is amazing. For all of the talent Ohio State’s had at receiver over the decades, he’s the best and now owns every single major Ohio State receiving record. 11 receptions for 206 yards and 2 touchdowns felt like a light day for him.
- You look at the box score – Ohio State at 160 yards rushing on 47 carries. Iowa held up fine there allowing 3.4 yards per rush. That’s a winning number against this opponent. But Iowa needs to get more going with their own ground game. Iowa averaged just 1.9 yards per carry Saturday. They’ve struggled running the ball against all three Power 4 teams they’ve faced. That must get on track.
- Iowa -2 in turnovers, with one in the first 2 minutes of the game that led to an immediate touchdown. You’ll never beat Ohio State with a turnover like that. Again, it’s Ohio State. They’re so dang talented. You have to throw a near-perfect game to beat them and Iowa didn’t do that.
- There is a big gap between the top 4 or 5 teams in the country and teams 6-20.
- Iowa beating them 55-24 in 2017 remains the single most stunning result of my life.
- I hope Iowa’s able to rebound on the short week. They had a few injuries Saturday. Prognosis on Lee and Zach Lutmer was good post-game, at least. Next week is all hands on deck with the west coast trip. Iowa can empty the tank with the bye after the Seattle trip.
- The schedule out of the bye though? That looks rocky. Minnesota bounced back from the Mississippi State debacle with great wins at Washington and their first win over Michigan in Minneapolis since 1977 (Michigan immediately got a stinker game from Bryce Underwood.) Wisconsin hammered Michigan State Saturday and won at a now reeling Penn State. Northwestern also hammered Penn State. That stretch will be difficult for Iowa. But no looking ahead – all focus on Seattle.
