My Thoughts.....Iowa

 

As expected, Iowa’s defense lived up to its billing, at least in the first half. A strip-sack of C.J. Stroud resulted in Iowa’s only touchdown and they held Ohio State to field goals on four occasions, despite a couple of those possessions starting in Iowa territory. However, the Ohio State offense closed the game on a 31-0 run, aided by a pick-six by Tommy Eichenberg. C.J. Stroud did not get off to a good start, but still managed to complete 20-of-30 passes for 281 yards and four touchdowns against one interception. Jaxon Smith-Njigba saw his first action in a while, albeit somewhat limited, as he caught one pass for seven yards. Marvin Harrison Jr. continued his stellar play, leading the way with seven catches for 62 yards and a touchdown. Emeka Egbuka contributed six receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown and Julian Fleming scored on a 79-yard touchdown toss. Iowa’s defense showed its stoutness against the run, holding TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams to a combined 57 yards and a touchdown. Of course, Iowa’s offense also lived up to its billing. Coupled with an Ohio State defense that continues to improve under DC Jim Knowles, Iowa managed only eight first downs and a paltry 158 yards of total offense. Their only sustained offensive drive, which led to a field goal, was aided by a bogus pass interference call where the ball was clearly uncatchable. Tommy Eichenberg’s pick-six was part of his seven-tackle performance, one shy of Lathan Ransom who led the team with eight tackles. Ransom also forced a fumble and recovered it. All in all, the Ohio State defense forced six Iowa turnovers, the most in any game since September 10, 2016 when they also notched six against Tulsa.

            It gets tougher from here on out as Ohio State must travel to Happy Valley and take on a ranked Penn State team that recovered nicely from an embarrassing loss to Michigan, by a beatdown of a decent Minnesota squad. It will clearly be Ohio State’s toughest test of the season thus far.