Ohio State Overwhelms Iowa In All Phases, Wins 54-10

The Buckeyes got a good test from a top three defense in the country, but ultimately proved to be way too much for Iowa to overcome.

Ohio State's defense was the focal point of basically every single criticism in 2021. The Scarlet and Gray had the No. 1-ranked offense in the country, but they ultimately lost twice when they couldn't stop Oregon or Michigan in tough moments.

The 2022 Silver Bullets have earned that moniker for sure, but they still hadn't put together a complete performance with the takeaways to back up their efficiency.

At least, not until Saturday.

Yes, Iowa's offense is awful. They're dead last in FBS and boy did they look like it against Ohio State. But give the Scarlet and Gray credit - that was their best performance of the season.

Tanner McCalister picked off two passes, Tommy Eichenberg picked one off and brought it back to the house and the defense recovered three fumbles. They haven't had six takeaways in a game since they forced Tulsa to turn in over six times in 2016.

The Hawkeyes literally couldn't move the ball. They scored just three points on offense (aided by a questionable pass interference call), running 59 plays for 158 yards. They missed on each of their first six third down conversions before finally converting on one with 8 minutes left in the third quarter. The Hawks also ran 35 times for a total of 77 yards on the day.

Ohio State put together a total team effort on that side of the ball. Zach Harrison completely dominated the line of scrimmage, Eichenberg and Steele Chambers made several great tackles and Caden Curry even snuffed out a fake punt deep in Iowa's own territory. The Buckeyes had 5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss.

I'm a little surprised Iowa never really tried to take any shots down field. The offense lacked any semblance of creativity. Spencer Petras and Alex Padilla were both under constant duress, which may have played into that in some fashion. But this is the same thing Iowa fans have watched all year.

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