Ohio State Week 5 Preview: Are There Legitimate Concerns on Defense?

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Over the last two seasons, Ohio State rode elite defenses to the College Football Playoff. Through four games in 2026, it’s looking like the Buckeye defense is good, not great. That could be enough to get the Buckeyes through, especially when the opposing offenses’ margin for error is razor-thin in order to keep up with Jeremiah Smith on the other side.

Coming off a game in which Illinois amassed an impressive 462 yards of offense, folks have their fingers hovering over the panic button. Illinois isn’t among the best offenses the Buckeyes will face this year; what will happen when they face Indiana, USC, or Oregon? Iowa presents a great opportunity to right the ship…or else those panic buttons will get smashed left and right.

Ohio Week 5 Preview: Are There Legitimate Concerns on Defense?

Potential Weakness To Be Exploited

Against Ball State and Kent State, the run defense was able to bully its way to allowing just two yards per carry. Texas wasn’t able to get as much going, but it still managed 3.4 yards per carry for a total of 141 yards. Illinois, meanwhile, gashed the Buckeyes for 199 yards on the ground. One of the Illini running backs averaged over 10 yards per carry, which is not ideal.

The Ohio State defensive line hasn’t quite lived up to expectations to this point. In total, the defense has amassed 22 tackles for loss in four games. Of those, four were defensive tackles.

To this point, Matt Patricia has actually utilized a sort of Bear front with multiple defensive tackles in the game. He’s been known to utilize a Penny front, ie. five players lined up on the defensive line with three down tackles and two stand-up defensive ends. In the past, he’s essentially shifted the normal defensive front (EDGE, tackle, tackle, EDGE) and lined up a linebacker.

Let’s try to contextualize those 199 rushing yards.

Of those, 35 were on three scrambles. Illinois ran the ball four times (plus a sack) on its two final drives of each half, resulting in a total of 43 yards. So, now, we are down to 111 yards on the ground, which isn’t as bad. The scramble yardage and draws vs. three linemen (40 yards) are not ideal, but that’s more of a linebacker issue.

Now let’s talk about those three defensive tackle packages. Based on our quick calculations, Illinois ran the ball against three defensive tackles (all of which on Bear/Penny fronts) nine times, resulting in 82 yards. Of course, 59 of those came on two runs, including a 22-yard touchdown. That’s 9.1 yards per carry, but if you look at the other seven carries, that’s just 23 yards, or 3.3 yards per carry.

Illinois did a good job of taking advantage of all that beef on the Buckeye defensive line by throwing it, but Iowa shouldn’t throw it as much. Ohio State should utilize the three-defensive-tackle look more against the Hawkeyes, but it should hope the linebackers hold up a bit better.

Speaking Of Linebackers

We’ve said numerous times that we trust James Laurinaitis. To start the year, it almost looked as if the Buckeyes were playing two linebackers who were not quite as good as the two on the bench. Through four games, that’s shown itself to be true.

Payton Pierce is a good linebacker, but the Buckeyes need great. Riley Pettijohn has looked great. He can fit in on run defense and is athletic enough to drop into coverage. The same could be said for TJ Alford. PFF grade caveat and all that; Ohio State’s two highest-rated linebackers are Pettijohn (87) and Alford (91!), while Pierce (69) and Christian Alliegro (73) are the ones starting.

Against Illinois, Pettijohn actually led the way in snaps, so perhaps there’s a shift there. After all, he still leads the defense with four tackles for loss and two sacks. Against Iowa, Ohio State can expect a run game that’s physical and disciplined. For as much as we expect out of the defensive line, the linebackers have to be on their best game to avoid a letdown.

The Task At Hand

The Iowa Hawkeyes are 4-0 for the seventh time under Kirk Ferentz. Last week, the Hawkeyes only needed one try at throwing the ball into the end zone as time expired to take down Michigan in Ann Arbor.

All in all, Iowa is incredibly balanced. In four games, it averages 213.5 yards through the air and 215.5 yards on the ground. However, the numbers may deceive a bit. Against Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa, Iowa amassed 507 and 640 yards of offense, respectively. Against Iowa State and Michigan, those numbers were more Iowa-like at 284 and 285 yards, respectively.

Both ISU and Michigan turned Iowa one-dimensional by taking away the run, something the Buckeyes will look to do on Saturday.

With all of those lower-level beatdowns, four Hawkeyes have run for over 100 yards thus far, and five different players have scored a rushing touchdown, including quarterback Hank Brown. As a passer, Brown is serviceable and has a handful of receivers averaging over 10 yards per catch.

Ohio State’s defense’s task is simple: play like Iowa State and Michigan, not like Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa.

Bottom Line on Ohio State at Iowa

Where: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa
History: Ohio State 48-15-3 Iowa (2010 win vacated)
Last Matchup: Ohio State won, 35-7, in 2024
Last Illinois Win: 55-24 in 2017
Date and Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
How to Watch: CBS
Spread: Ohio State -14.5; O/U 45.5 (via FanDuel)

Prediction: Ohio State fell short of covering the spread for the first time last week. That shouldn’t be the case this week. Ohio State should be at least two scores better than Iowa, Kinnick voodoo or not. The defense will have moments of struggle, but the offense should force the Iowa game plan into throwing the ball early. Buckeyes win, 35-17.

More Ohio State News

• Ohio State Week 5 Preview: Sayin, Smith, And Who Else?
• College Football Sunday Summary Plays the Expectations Game
• 2026 Bowl Projections After Week 4
• The 2026 Big Ten College Football Playoff Picture: Week 5
• Jeremiah Smith’s Heisman Case Strengthens In Ohio State’s Win Over Illinois

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