You’re Nuts: What was the most important thing we learned from the Iowa game?
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Ohio State’s 31-14 win over Iowa was not the kind of performance that radically changes how we view the Buckeyes, but it might have clarified a few things. Playing in one of the more difficult road environments in the Big Ten, Ohio State controlled the game for most of the afternoon, outgained the Hawkeyes 484-238, and got encouraging performances from several areas that had generated legitimate questions during the first month of the season.
The most interesting part, though, might be deciding which development actually mattered most. Was it a defense that looked considerably more composed and physical than it had earlier in the year, particularly against the run? Or was it a rushing attack that, while still lacking an obvious superstar, showed that a combination of Ja’Kobi Jackson and Bo Jackson might be productive enough to provide the balance this offense needs? Saturday did not answer every question surrounding Ohio State, but it certainly gave us a few new reasons to reconsider the answers.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides on one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts. Read the arguments and then head to the comments at the bottom of the page and jump into the debate.
Question: What was the most important thing we learned from the Iowa game?
Gene’s take: Ohio State is slowly finding its way on defense
As it turns out, an Ohio State defense replacing nine of its starters — with seven of those guys being NFL Draft picks — was going to take a bit of time to round into form.
Matt Patricia’s unit was not ready when the Buckeyes lost to Texas in Week 2.
Ohio State allowed touchdowns on the Longhorns’ final three drives of the game to let a 23-3 lead slip away. Against an incredibly talented and experienced offense led by Arch Manning, Hollywood Smothers, and Cam Coleman, all guys in their third years, the inexperience of the Buckeyes was exposed.
Ohio State responded the following week by holding Kent State to three points, but there isn’t much to be gained from playing against a MAC opponent. The Buckeyes then proceeded to allow 462 yards of offense to Illinois in Week 4. They held the Illini to 19 points, but allowing six yards per rush was a legitimate reason for concern.
While maybe not a bastion of offense, Ohio State played perhaps its most complete game defensively against a quality opponent in Saturday’s 31-14 win over Iowa.
The Hawkeyes are uncharacteristically bad at running the football this season by their standards. That said, it’s still a unit that ranks in the top 50 nationally in rushing offense, and that is after Ohio State held Iowa to 39 total rushing yards on 1.9 yards per carry.
A big game on the ground for the Hawkeyes would have been concerning, but the Buckeyes completely shut them down.
The passing defense was not perfect by any means. Ohio State allowed seven completions of at least 15 yards, with two of those coming on third down. That said, three of those plays were on Iowa’s final drive once the Buckeyes had taken their foot off the gas and taken out a few of the starters.
Those seven big completions accounted for virtually all of the Hawkeyes’ total passing yards on the day as well. Outside of Hank Brown’s four big completions (totaling 76 yards, the longest of which went for 25 yards), Brown went 8-of-23 for 56 yards.
Much like we saw at times in 2025, Patricia is very willing to run a ‘bend don’t break’ style of defense.
Ohio State played a ton of man coverage against Iowa, and while it led to some blown coverages and a handful of chunk plays, the Buckeyes ultimately allowed just one touchdown — again, on Iowa’s final drive. The Hawkeyes went 5-of-11 on third down overall, turned the ball over twice, and finished with under 240 total yards on the day.
The defensive line has been one of the biggest areas of concern for Ohio State in the early goings of the season, and we started to see some growth there as well. While creating pressure on a down-to-down basis still needs work, we saw quite a few splash plays from defensive linemen against Iowa.
Kenyatta Jackson Jr.’s strip sack set the tone early on, creating a turnover on the third play of the game. Qua Russaw, perhaps finally feeling 100% after missing most of camp and the Ball State game, recorded a sack on an impressive bull rush on a third-down play in the red zone. John Walker created pressure up the middle to force an errant throw, which was picked off by Jaylen McClain.
The defensive line was involved all afternoon. Russaw finished with five tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and the sack, while Zion Grady and Eddrick Houston each recorded four tackles; Houston also added a pair of QB hits. It is always a good sign to see the front four filling up the stat sheet, and they did that against the Hawkeyes.
Again, the defense is far from perfect. The secondary has been prone to some blown coverages and miscommunication; the pass rush could still be much better, and tackling could still use some work.
Overall, though, it’s tough not to see defensive improvements across the board since the poor second-half performance against Texas.
Matt’s take: Ohio State might be OK with a 2-headed, slightly above-average running-back attack
Ohio State does not have TreVeyon Henderson in its backfield this season. It does not have Quinshon Judkins, J.K. Dobbins, Curtis Samuel, or Ezekiel Elliott, either, and barring some sort of midseason metamorphosis, I don’t think anyone currently on the roster is going to be confused for them anytime soon.
But after Saturday’s 31-14 win over Iowa, I am beginning to wonder whether that actually matters. Ja’Kobi Jackson ran 14 times for 72 yards and a touchdown against the Hawkeyes, while Bo Jackson added 70 yards on 16 carries. Throw in Isaiah West’s 21 yards, and Ohio State’s running backs accounted for 163 yards on 37 carries, a particularly pedestrian 4.4 yards per attempt that nevertheless felt considerably more encouraging than that number suggests.
Because for this offense, spectacular might be unnecessary.
I have spent much of the season looking for someone in this backfield who could provide the explosiveness Ohio State has become accustomed to at the position. After the opener, I predicted that Legend Bey would be the starter by mid-October, largely because he appeared to possess a gear that nobody else in the room did. An injury and a subsequent seemingly long-term stay in Ryan Day’s doghouse have made that prediction look increasingly unlikely. But perhaps I was looking for the wrong thing.
The Jacksons aren’t particularly likely to turn a routine inside zone into a 70-yard touchdown like we have seen from some of the bold-faced names I mentioned above. What they demonstrated at Kinnick, however, was an ability to run hard, get what was blocked, manufacture a little more, and — perhaps most importantly — largely eliminate the parade of one- and two-yard carries that can put an offense behind schedule.
Even before Saturday, there was evidence of that. Through the first four games, Ja’Kobi had a 52% rushing success rate and had somehow avoided being stuffed for a loss or no gain on any of his 31 carries. Bo’s success rate was slightly better at 54%, compared with an FBS average of 46%. Ja’Kobi was also averaging 5.55 yards after contact per carry, while Bo was at 4.44.
Those aren’t the statistics of backs who require everything around them to be perfect (and based on what we’ve seen from the offensive line this season, we shouldn’t expect a lot of perfect moving forward).
Saturday also provided an interesting bit of theater in how Day handled Bo. Ja’Kobi started, while Bo didn’t receive his first carry until the second quarter. Given the questions that have occasionally surrounded Bo’s consistency, effort, and attention to detail, I can’t help but wonder whether there was a little psychology involved. Let Ja’Kobi establish himself, make Bo watch for a while, then see what happens when he finally gets his opportunity.
What happened was that Bo ran like someone who very much wanted to make the most of the opportunity he was eventually given. Five games into the season, he now has 353 yards on 66 carries, a healthy 5.3-yard average, while Ja’Kobi has 278 on 45 attempts, good for 6.2 yards per carry. Thos enumbers put them at 17th and 11th in the Big Ten respectively; solid, but not explosive.
But given what we know about the rest of the offense, I don’t think that either needs to become Ohio State’s next great running back, because this offense already has Julian Sayin throwing to Jeremiah Smith and a passing game averaging 357 yards per game, good for second best in the country.
What Ohio State needs is enough of a running game to prevent defenses from treating every snap like a passing down. It needs four yards on first-and-10, five on second-and-6, and three when everybody in the stadium knows that’s how many they need to get a first down. Obviously, the offensive line has to hold up its end of that bargain, and Saturday offered some encouraging signs there as well.
But after seeing the Jacksons turn in another efficient, if not exciting, game on Saturday, I’m starting to think that the answer isn’t finding one exceptional running back, but perhaps two reliably above-average ones are enough.
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