The Ohio State Buckeyes rolled to an easy victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes while wide receiver Jeremiah Smith rewrote the wide receiver record books.
The Ohio State Buckeyes rolled to a very smooth victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday afternoon in Iowa City. The game had a personality to it that the Buckeyes needed to experience because, while the final score was large, the journey to get there was anything but easy.
Ohio State had to grind through the first half as the Hawkeyes made it very tough sledding early on in the football game.
The Buckeyes got the scoring started right away thanks to senior Kenyatta Jackson finally making a huge impact play from the defensive end position. Iowa won the toss and elected to receive the football. On the second play of the game, quarterback Hank Brown held onto the football in the pocket, giving Jackson time to get there and strip the ball, and the Buckeyes recovered the fumble.
Ohio State immediately turned the controls to the offense, and they cashed in. Julian Sayin scanned through his progressions down by the goal line, and wide receiver Devin McCuin adjusted his route, found an opening, and Sayin hit him. McCuin hauled in the catch and turned it upfield for a score.
It felt like the rout was on, but Iowa settled in. The Hawkeyes ground the pace of the game down for the rest of the first half and made it a back-and-forth affair. Then, the Buckeyes got the ball with just over a minute left in the first half, and they did what they do best: a two-minute drill.
Sayin orchestrated a perfect drive up the field, and as the clock leaked under 20 seconds, Sayin found Jeremiah Smith on an outbreaking route at the sideline who caught it, fended off a tackle, and extended the ball over the endzone for six.
It was this touchdown that Smith tied the Ohio State touchdown record.
Smith would continue to go crazy in the second half of the football game.
The Buckeyes took a nice advantage into the half and came out on fire in the second half. It was the Julian Sayin to Jeremiah Smith show for the entire second half as Smith would tack on a 57-yard catch for a touchdown that nailed the football game home.
The Buckeyes were really solid on Saturday in a tough environment on the road. The defense bent but didn't break as they kept Iowa out of the end zone until late in the fourth quarter.
The offense outside of Jeremiah Smith was decent. They rushed for over 150 yards; while it wasn't efficient by any means, it was still really solid against a very good Iowa defense.
The main story of the day is Jeremiah Smith. He finished the day with 11 catches for 206 yards and two touchdowns. His second 10-plus-catch, 200-plus-yard, multiple-touchdown day in a row. He is playing as well as he ever has.
If he continues at this pace, the Buckeyes will be in every game against any opponent.
The Buckeyes move to 4-1 and are the top-ranked one-loss team. They clear their second hurdle on their really tough schedule and do it convincingly. Up next is a home game against the Maryland Terrapins before the showdown of the year in Bloomington in two weeks.
