The buzz in Iowa City was palpable throughout the entire week leading up to Saturday's showdown between No. 14 Iowa and No. 5 Ohio State at Kinnick Stadium. 

Every UI student probably dreaded going to class each day, but once game day arrived, the anticipation for this matchup was off the charts. ESPN College GameDay made a long-awaited arrival to Iowa City for this contest, and some students went as far as to wait in line at 6:00 p.m. the night before just so they could get close to the stage. 

Once GameDay ended at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, the thousands of people that attended the iconic pregame show filed over to Kinnick Stadium to soak in a few more hours of tailgating before the game kicked off at 2:30 p.m. 

You could feel the stadium waiting to explode as soon as fans made it to their seats, but that moment just never happened for the Hawkeyes on this day. The Buckeyes entered the matchup as a 14.5-point favorite, and it's safe to say they lived up to it, cruising to a 31-14 victory. 

An outcome like this one was both expected and unexpected at the same time. Iowa fans were hopeful their team could continue their newfound momentum after stunning Michigan last weekend, but at the same time, some tempered expectations due to Ohio State's offensive firepower and major talent edge. 

The Hawkeyes needed to essentially play a perfect game to beat the Buckeyes on Saturday, and that totally didn't come to fruition. Quarterback Hank Brown fumbled on the second play from scrimmage, which resulted in Iowa playing catch up for this entire game. 

The mistakes continued to pile up from there. The Hawkeyes put together a pair of long field goal drives on their next two possessions after the fumble, but really struggled to string together a consistent scoring drive after that. Ohio State kept the door ajar with some mistakes of its own over the next two periods (a missed field goal, failed fourth down conversion), but Iowa just couldn't muster any offense until garbage time. 

It was simply just one of those games for the Hawkeyes, and while most of the 70,000 fans inside Kinnick Stadium probably left with sour expressions on their faces, is a loss to a Buckeye team that some consider the most talented team in the nation a bad thing at this point in the season? Absolutely not. 

While Iowa certainly has its fair share of flaws to sort out (the run game is probably priority No. 1) everything is still out there for this Hawkeye team. As of Oct. 3, Iowa doesn't have a ranked team on its remaining schedule. Friday's trip to Seattle to take on an underperforming, but talented Washington team won't be easy, but escape the Emerald City with a win, and you're 5-1 heading into the bye week. 

The rest of the Hawkeyes' schedule after the bye is literally against the old Big Ten West - a division it won in two of the last three years of its existence. There's simply too much season left to be down about a loss like this. 

Linebacker Jayden Montgomery isn't panicking, and neither should you. 

"This is not going to be the end of the 2026 Iowa Hawkeyes," Montgomery said after the game. "One week doesn't define us." 

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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at [email protected]