Ohio State Still Has "Scar" From 2017 Blowout Loss At Iowa

The Buckeyes turned the ball over four times and the Hawkeyes dealt a fatal blow to their playoff hopes.

It’s been nearly five years since Ohio State last played Iowa, but the wounds from the 55-24 loss on Nov. 4, 2017, are still fresh for head coach Ryan Day, who was in his first year as the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator that season.

“It’s a scar that doesn’t go away,” Day said during his press conference on Tuesday. “I’ve felt it this week, for sure.”

Ohio State entered the afternoon at 7-1 overall and the sixth-ranked team in the country following an “emotional” home win over No. 2 Penn State the week prior, overcoming a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Nittany Lions, 39-38.

But playing in a hostile environment for the first time all season, quarterback J.T. Barrett threw a pick-six on the first play of the game – one of four interceptions in the game – and the Hawkeyes throttled the Buckeyes, who allowed the fifth-most points in a game in school history.

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“We fought ourselves back, but then turned the ball over too many times,” Day said, referring to how Buckeyes tied the game at 17 late in the second quarter before being outscored 38-7 the rest of the way. “Anytime you have a scar like that, it’s real.”

While not a single member of the current team was on the travel roster for that cloudy afternoon in Iowa City, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson and running backs coach Tony Alford were there.

Quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis (graduate assistant) and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline (quality control coach) were also on the offensive staff, so Day isn’t the only wanting to avoid a repeat performance on Saturday.

“We’ve talked about it a lot to our staff, we’ve talked a lot about it to our players and we’ll continue to talk about it,” Day said. “This team is always difficult to beat, doesn’t matter what year it was or what year it is. That year was no different than it is this year.”

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