COLUMBUS, Ohio – The University of Iowa football team was defeated, 35-7, by No. 3 ranked Ohio State on Saturday afternoon at Ohio Stadium.

The Buckeyes outgained the Hawkeyes 412-226.

Cade McNamara connected on 14-of-20 passes for 98 yards and an interception. Brendan Sullivan was 1-for-1.

Kaleb Johnson led things on the ground for the Hawkeyes with 86 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown. Sullivan added 27 yards rushing.  Luke Lachey led the team in receiving with 39 yards on five receptions.

Defensively, Iowa was led by Jay Higgins who tallied 14 tackles (six solo) and forced and recovered a fumble. Quinn Schulte had eight tackles (five solo) and Sebastian Castro pulled in an interception.

QUOTING KIRK FERENTZ

“First of just want to congratulate and give credit to Ohio State, really good football team. Said that on Tuesday, they have a very talented team and well coached and certainly played a good game today.  Give them credit. Coming in here we knew it would be a tough challenge, for the reasons I just mentioned.

The first half went probably about the way we wanted it too, obviously would have been good to score some points there. To be down seven at halftime was encouraging. Second half, obviously things didn’t go our way. We gave up a drive and then three turnovers.

To beat a team like this it is going to be tough when you lose the turnover battle. That ended up being the way it went. Had some turbulence out there, but I thought our guys kept playing, lot to be proud of that way. The bottom line is you need to play clean football against a team like this and we weren’t able to do that. They get some credit on that too.

Moving forward here, tomorrow we will look at the film, see what we can learn. It is all about how we move forward, probably the biggest message I can give to the team. It is a tough loss certainly, we own it. No excuses, we own it, we will learn, and then we will look forward. That is what you need to do win or lose.”

PHOTOS

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Ohio State got on the board first with a 14-play drive that went 88 yards and took 7:36. Emeka Egbuka scored on a 14-yard touchdown reception.
• On Iowa’s second possession Drew Stevens missed a 51-yard field goal attempt with 12:52 remaining in the second quarter.
• The Buckeyes scored on their opening drive of the second half with a four-yard touchdown reception from Jeremiah Smith. It capped a nine play 86-yard drive that lasted 5:17.
• Ohio State took advantage of an Iowa turnover taking over at the Iowa 19-yard line and used three plays to punch the ball into the endzone on a Will Howard four-yard rush with 7:59 remaining in the third quarter.
• The Buckeyes extended their lead with 13 seconds remaining in the third quarter as Egbuka pulled in a 15-yard reception to end a six play 40-yard drive.
• A seven play 27-yard Ohio State drive after an Iowa turnover culminated with Egbuka’s third touchdown reception of the game with 10:58 left in the game.
• Iowa got on the board with 8:07 left in the game with a five play 75-yard drive that lasted 2:51 and ended with a Kaleb Johnson 28-yard touchdown rush.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• RB Kaleb Johnson finished with 86 yards on 15 attempts with one touchdown – a 28-yarder in the fourth quarter.
  • He had two 28-yard rushes in the game, his 13th and 14th 20+ yard rushes of the season.
  • Johnson has five touchdown rushes of 25 yards this season.
  • It was the first time Johnson had been held 100 yards or less this season.
• TE Luke Lachey had a team-high five catches for 39 yards.
• LB Jay Higgins finished with 14 tackles, one sack, one TFL and a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
  • It was his second game double-digit tackle game of the season and 13th such game of his career. He has led or tied for the team lead in tackles in all five games.
  • Higgins had a forced fumble and fumble recovery in the second quarter. It was his second career forced fumble and fourth fumble recovery.
• DB Sebastian Castro had a second-quarter interception – his first of the season and fourth of his career.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

• Iowa’s defense forced two second quarter turnovers – a Jay Higgins forced and recovered fumble and a Sebastian Castro interception.
  • The unit has nine forced turnovers (six interceptions, three fumble recoveries) this season and Iowa has a 9-5 advantage in turnovers on the year.
• Ohio State finished with 412 yards of total offense, ending the Hawkeyes’ streak of 32 consecutive games of allowing 400 or fewer yards. It was the longest active streak in the nation.
• Ohio State won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. The Hawkeyes have played 320 games under head coach Kirk Ferentz. Iowa has opened the game on offense 234 times (149-85). The Hawkeyes have opened the game on defense 86 times (50-36).

UP NEXT

The Hawkeyes return to action Oct. 12, hosting Washington at 11 a.m. (CT) inside Kinnick Stadium.