COLUMBUS, Ohio – The University of Iowa football team was defeated by No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday afternoon, 54-10, at Ohio Stadium.

The Buckeyes outgained the Hawkeyes in total offense, 360-158, with 294 yards coming in the air and 66 on the ground. Ohio State forced six Hawkeye turnovers.

Senior Spencer Petras was 6-for-14 throwing for 49 yards before being relieved by junior Alex Padilla who was 5-for-10 and 32 yards. Senior Sam LaPorta led the team with six receptions for 55 yards. Sophomore Leshon Williams had 31 yards on nine carries.

Defensively senior Jack Campbell had 9 tackles (four solo) and an interception, and junior Quinn Schulte had eight tackles (three solo). Senior Joe Evans had a sack forcing a fumble and recovering it for a defensive touchdown.

PHOTOS

QUOTING COACH FERENTZ

“Obviously disappointed to lose the football game today. We knew coming in we were playing a top-ranked team, and very talented team. We knew we would have to play flawlessly, execute, take advantage of any opportunities that might be there, do a good job with ball security, excel on special teams, and do well on penalties. Really didn’t do much to check any of those boxes today, unfortunately so. Didn’t give ourselves much of a chance, credit our opponent also on that.

Defensively I thought the guys really good out there. Good energy, and they came up with some big plays. Obviously, the spark play by Joe right off the bat, I thought they competed well and did a lot of good things throughout the game. Just on the field too long, and then the hill got a little bit high to climb.

Offensively, had protection issues right off the bat in the first quarter. Turnovers are tough to overcome, no matter who you are playing. Weren’t able to establish any consistency. Made a quarterback change at halftime, not sure it is real fair to assess that whole thing right now, just based on the overall play. We will go about that tomorrow, we just thought at the time it was the best thing to do for all parties involved.

Special teams, Drew hit the good field goal. Good to see that, but otherwise didn’t do much to help ourselves, especially in the first half. Playing a team like this its going to be tough to come out on top playing that way.

We will go back to Iowa, regroup like we do after every football game, reassess things tomorrow and then we will turn our focus to the next game. Big picture, we’ve got five left on the schedule and that is our plan.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After a Hawkeye turnover on the opening drive of the game the Iowa defense held the Buckeye offense to one-yard forcing a 46-yard field goal attempt which Noah Ruggles converted.
• On first down from the 24-yard line Joe Evans sacked C.J. Stroud forcing a fumble which he recovered and carried into the end zone for an Iowa scoop-and-score.

• The Buckeyes responded by driving down the field going 75-yards over 10 plays and scoring a touchdown on a two-yard rush by Miyan Williams.
• After another Hawkeye turnover the Iowa defense held Ohio State to four-yards and another field goal as Ruggles converted from 41-yards out.
• After taking over on the Iowa 34-yard line the Buckeyes moved the ball 17-yards before kicking another field goal, this time from 35-yards out.
• The Hawkeyes drove 44-yards over 10 plays and 4:53 to set up a 49-yard field goal from Drew Stevens.
• After a punt by the Hawkeyes Ohio State took over at the 32-yard line and used eight plays to go 24-yards and set up a 26-yard field goal by Ruggles.
• The Buckeyes scored their second touchdown after Tommy Eichenberg intercepted a Petras pass and returned it 15-yards for a defensive score.
• After a Hawkeye turnover set the Buckeyes up at the 15-yard line they used four plays to find the end zone scoring on a six-yard touchdown reception from Marvin Harrison Jr.
• The Buckeyes scored on a four play 55-yard drive that lasted 1:54. Emeka Egbuka caught a 13-yard pass in the endzone to cap the drive.
• C.J. Stroud hit Julian Felming for a 79-yard touchdown with 13:26 remaining in the fourth quarter.
• Ohio State scored again with 7:59 remaining in the contest after a 3-yard touchdown reception from Mitch Rossi finished an eight play 40-yard drive.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• DL Joe Evans’ sack forced a fumble of C.J. Stroud on the first play of Ohio State’s second series. Evans recovered the fumble and returned it 13 yards for his first career touchdown, giving Iowa a 7-3 lead.  It was Evans’ third sack of the season and second career forced fumble (vs. Minnesota, 2021).
• LB Jack Campbell had an interception on the first play of the third quarter. It was his first interception of the season and fourth career pick. Campbell has forced a turnover in consecutive games.
  • Campbell finished with a team high nine tackles. He has eight or more tackles in all seven games and has 71 tackles this season.
• QB Alex Padilla made his season debut, finishing 5-for-10 for 32 yards and one interception. He played the second half.
• TE Sam LaPorta made six catches for 55 yards to lead the team and become the Iowa leader in career receptions amongst Hawkeye tight ends, passing Marv Cook (126). LaPorta has 131 receptions for 1,462 yards.  The yardage total ranks 25th all-time — third-most amongst Iowa tight ends.
• WR Diante Vines made his season debut after missing the first six games because of injury. Vines made his first career catch in the second quarter.
• K Drew Stevens connected on a 49-yard field goal in the second quarter. It was the second-longest field goal of his career; he is now 2-of-3 beyond 40 yards this season.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

• Iowa’s defense allowed four first-half field goals after Ohio State started drives in Hawkeye territory (29, 23, 34, 32-yard lines). Ohio State’s second touchdown came via a pick six.
  • The Hawkeyes limited Ohio State to 360 yards and just 66 on the ground. The Buckeyes entered the game averaging 543.7 yards of total offense and 228.0 rushing yards per game.
• Iowa’s defense has now scored three touchdowns (DeJean pick six and Merriweather fumble return at Rutgers) and recorded two safeties this season for 22 total defensive points.
• Iowa won the toss and elected to receive. The Hawkeyes have played 295 games under head coach Kirk Ferentz. Iowa has opened the game on offense 217 times (138-79). The Hawkeyes have opened the game on defense 78 times (43-35).

UP NEXT

The Hawkeyes return to action Oct. 29, hosting Northwestern for Homecoming at 2:30 p.m. (CT) in Kinnick Stadium.  The game will be televised on ESPN2.