There were a lot of things that went wrong in No. 14 Iowa's 31-14 loss to No. 5 Ohio State at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday. 

Some of the positives and negatives will be addressed by the Iowa coaching staff over the next few days, but we're going to take a look at some of them here, too. 

Here are three things we saw against Ohio State that the Hawkeyes should continue doing for the rest of the season (the do's), and three things that should remain in Week 5 (the don'ts): 

Get DJ Vonnahme going: Vonnahme has been banged up with a shoulder injury since the Iowa State game, but he looked like the version we saw at the end of the 2025 season against Ohio State. Hank Brown struggled to get anything going in the passing game, but when he was firing them in there, the ball was heading towards Vonnahme. Brown went 12-for-27 on this day, but exactly half of those completions were to Vonnahme, who tallied a season-best 64 yards on six receptions. Again, the injury probably limited Vonnahme's role in the offense, but when he's got the ball in his hands, it's usually a very good thing for Tim Lester's offense. 

Throw in more blitzes: The Hawkeyes had a difficult time slowing down star Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith in this game (Smith recorded 206 yards and 2 TD), but this defense was effective when it was bringing extra pressure on quarterback Julian Sayin. Iowa collected four sacks in this one, and though the blitzing didn't spark the offense, it did keep the Buckeyes at bay long enough for the Hawkeyes to get back in the game. Phil Parker is never going to run a blitz-heavy defense, but he may turn to it again if his defense needs answers in certain moments. 

Keep executing on special teams: Special teams was a major concern for Iowa because of all the turnover it had in that room entering the year, but Chris Polizzi's unit has played well through five games. On a day where the Hawkeyes didn't do many good things, they'll have to love what they saw on special teams. Boston Everitt has been fantastic at punter, and walk-on kicker Caden Buhr nailed both of his field goal tries in the first quarter. 

Fumble on the second play from scrimmage: Iowa was already in an uphill battle before this game even kicked off, but Brown's fumble on the second play of the game really seemed to set the tone for this one. Predicting the Hawkeyes, who entered the game with just one turnover on the entire season, to escape a game against Ohio State without a turnover was probably a stretch, and it's mistakes like those that have killed Iowa in big games in recent years. 

Run the ball only 21 times: The Hawkeyes had to go exclusively to the passing game in the second half because they were trailing, but that still doesn't hide the fact that Lester opted to go away from the run on a crucial possession early in the game. Iowa moved the football well after the Buckeyes scored a quick touchdown after the Brown fumble, but once the Hawks had a 2nd and 2 from the OSU 25, Lester decided to throw the football twice. Both passes were incomplete, and Iowa kicked a field goal instead of potentially tying the game with a touchdown. 

There's no question that the Hawkeyes' run game has major flaws at this point, but the best way to improvement may be to keep running the football. Iowa has too much talent in the running back room to not trust its run game. 

Injuries: A 17-point loss was not what the Hawkeyes were expecting to see on Saturday, but this was one of those games where you couldn't afford to have any injuries. Unfortunately for Iowa, the injury bug struck in the second half. Defensive backs Zach Lutmer and Deshaun Lee both left the game with injuries, as did Brown after he took a huge hit on a fourth quarter interception. 

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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]