Ohio State Hands Iowa First Loss, 31-14, as GameDay Returns to Iowa City

Sixth-ranked Ohio State outgained No. 14 Iowa 484-238 and pulled away for a 31-14 Big Ten win at Kinnick Stadium, the Hawkeyes' first loss of the season.

No. 6 Ohio State defeated No. 14 Iowa 31-14 on Saturday, Oct. 3, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, playing before 69,250 fans in a game broadcast on CBS. The Buckeyes improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play, while Iowa fell to 4-1 and 1-1 in the conference. Ohio State more than doubled Iowa in total yardage, 484 to 238.

The matchup carried unusual buildup. ESPN's College GameDay visited Iowa City for the first time in 20 years, with the week's national coverage focused on head coach Kirk Ferentz's long-term success, the Hawkeyes' fan base and the university community. Guest picker Caitlin Clark chose Iowa to win. The show's previous visit, in 2006, also preceded an Ohio State win, 38-17, a game in which the Hawkeyes committed four turnovers.

Iowa's problems began on the game's second snap. Under pressure, quarterback Hank Brown held the ball too long, was sacked and stripped by Kenyatta Jackson and lost the Hawkeyes' first fumble of the season. Ohio State took over at the Iowa 14, and two plays later Julian Sayin threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Devin McCuin for a 7-0 lead.

The opening mirrored Iowa's Week 5 game last season against Indiana, when a second-play interception thrown by Mark Gronowski gave the Hoosiers a short field and Fernando Mendoza hit Omar Cooper for a 14-yard touchdown two plays later. Iowa lost that game 20-15, and Indiana went on to win the national championship.

Iowa answered with sustained drives of 11 plays for 50 yards and 10 plays for 40 yards, each ending in Caden Buhr field goals from 43 and 48 yards, and trailed 10-6 after the first quarter. Brown, who a week earlier had led a game-winning drive in a victory at Michigan that ended with Reece Vander Zee's walk-off touchdown catch, finished 12-of-27 passing for 132 yards with two turnovers.

The decisive stretch came early in the third quarter with Iowa trailing 17-6. The Hawkeyes stopped Ohio State on fourth-and-1 at their own 43, only for Brown to throw three incompletions in 13 seconds, an overthrow of a wide-open Tony Diaz, a drop by Vander Zee and an off-target pass to tight end DJ Vonnahme, ahead of a 32-yard Boston Everitt punt. Ohio State then extended its lead on Jeremiah Smith's second touchdown catch of the day.

Brown threw an interception later in the third quarter and did not return, with the broadcast indicating he may have suffered a collarbone injury. Backup Jeremy Hecklinski immediately led an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped by Braeden Jackson's 2-yard run, then connected with Vander Zee on a two-point conversion that made it 31-14 with 9:30 remaining.

Iowa had pushed near midfield late in the first half, with LJ Phillips contributing an 11-yard run in his first significant action since a Week 1 high-ankle sprain. Brown's third-and-7 completion to Vonnahme appeared to gain nine yards to the Ohio State 44, but a mental error negated the play and left the Hawkeyes facing third-and-12 from their own 42.

For coach Ryan Day's Buckeyes, the win came in their first visit to Kinnick Stadium since 2017, when Iowa won 55-24, a result labeled 'Woodshed' in a Cedar Rapids Gazette headline the next morning. Ohio State entered Saturday's game as the betting favorite to win this season's national championship.