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Football

No. 14 Hawkeyes Fall to No. 5 Ohio State

The No. 14-ranked University of Iowa football team fell to No. 5 Ohio State, 31-14, on Saturday afternoon on Duke Slate Field at Kinnick Stadium.

Opens in a new window Box Score (PDF) Opens in a new window Ferentz Postgame Transcript (PDF)

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The No. 14-ranked University of Iowa football team fell to No. 5 Ohio State, 31-14, on Saturday afternoon on Duke Slate Field at Kinnick Stadium.

The Hawkeyes totaled 238 yards of offense and 15 first downs, while Ohio State finished with 484 yards and 24 first downs.

At quarterback, Hank Brown completed 12-of-27 passes for 132 yards before leaving due to an injury, while Jeremy Hecklinski was a perfect 5-for-5 for 67 yards in relief.

DJ Vonnahme paced Iowa's receiving corps with six catches for 64 yards. Tony Diaz finished with five receptions for 59 yards, while Vander Zee added two catches for 35 yards.

Kamari Moulton led the Hawkeyes on the ground with 27 yards on 11 carries, while L.J. Phillips added 16 rushing yards and Braeden Jackson a touchdown rush.

Defensively, Zach Lutmer and Jayden Montgomery led the Hawkeyes with 11 tackles apiece. Kahmari Brown added five tackles, a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Bryce Hawthorne recorded five tackles, a sack and a team-best 2.5 tackles for loss, while Jacob Wallace and Joseph Anderson also registered sacks.

Caden Buhr was responsible for Iowa's first six points, connecting on field goals from 43 and 48 yards.

QUOTING KIRK FERENTZ

"First of all, just congratulate, give credit to Ohio State. They've got a good football team and played a really good game. We knew it was going to be a challenge going in, and unfortunately, we weren't able to meet that challenge.

If you're going to beat a team like that, you've got to play clean and really be smart . If you're going to give yourself a chance to win, you've got to do that, and we came up short today at various times that really kind of hurt us.

Just from where I was standing, two of the biggest things that happened: obviously, the turnover early. First of all, we had a false start before that, I think we were second-and-2, second-and-3, put ourselves in a predictable situation, and then had the sack and fumble.

So, that started it out, and then at the end of the half, we were moving the ball, converted a third down, and then got called for an illegal formation. That took the first down off the board, and then we punted, and we couldn't get a stop after that. I thought those were two big plays that really impacted that first half.

We'll never know what the second half would have been, but again, if you're going to win a game like this, you really have to be able to execute that way. Singling those two things out, and then just again, I think our effort, our investment was good in the game. We couldn't match up there in the second half, so again, credit to them.

It hurts to lose anytime you do, especially when you've got a bunch of guys who are invested. I know how they're all feeling, and that's how it's going to be tonight, and it'll be that way tomorrow. Then we're going to move on, look at the film, learn from it like we always do.

It's imperative this week especially that you've got to move on and move on faster because we've got a six-day week, so that'll be the message tomorrow. Proud of our guys. It's a good group of guys, and we'll just keep pushing forward."

PHOTOS

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Ohio State opened the scoring on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Julian Sayin to Devin McCuin with 13:18 remaining in the first quarter.
  • Buhr put Iowa on the board with a 43-yard field goal midway through the opening quarter.
  • Connor Hawkins connected on a 28-yard field goal to give the Buckeyes a 10-3 advantage with 4:17 remaining in the first.
  • Buhr drilled a career-long 48-yard field goal as time expired in the quarter to trim the deficit to 10-6.
  • Ohio State extended its lead to 17-6 just before halftime on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Sayin to Jeremiah Smith with 18 seconds left in the second quarter.
  • The Buckeyes pushed the margin to 24-6 midway through the third quarter when Sayin found Smith for a 57-yard touchdown.
  • Ohio State made it 31-6 on a seven-yard touchdown run by Ja’Kobi Jackson with 12:47 remaining in the fourth quarter.
  • Iowa answered with an eight-play, 75-yard drive capped by Braeden Jackson's two-yard touchdown run. Hecklinski connected with Vander Zee on the two-point conversion to make the score 31-14 with 9:30 left in the game.

POSTGAME NOTES

  • The game was the 32nd straight sellout inside Kinnick Stadium.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

  • QB Hank Brown completed 12-of-27 attempts for 132 yards in the game with one interception – his first of the season. He left the game in the fourth quarter because of injury.
  • QB Jeremy Hecklinski went 5-of-5 for 67 yards in his lone series in the fourth quarter, leading the team on an eight play, 75-yard touchdown drive.    
  • RB Braeden Jackson had a 2-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. It was his third straight game with a touchdown (two rushing, one kickoff return)
  • TE DJ Vonnahme had six receptions for 64 yards – both season highs.
  • DB Zach Lutmer had a team-high 11 tackles – his second-straight double-digit tackle game – and 0.5 TFL before exiting the game because of injury in the third quarter.
  • LB Jayden Montgomery had a career-high 11 tackles and 0.5 TFL in the game. It was his first career game with 10+ tackles.
    • Iowa has had four players notch 10+ tackle games on the year.
  • K Caden Buhr drilled 43 and 48-yard field goals in the first quarter. It is his third game making at least two field goals this season.
    • Buhr is 7-of-9 on field goal attempts this season and is a perfect 7-of-7 from under 50 yards.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Ohio State finished with a 484-to-238 advantage in total offense.
  • The Hawkeyes converted a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter on a Jeremy Hecklinski to Reece Vander Zee pitch and catch. It was the team’s first successful 2-point attempt since 2023.
  • Iowa lost the turnover battle, 2-0, and the Buckeyes turned the miscues into 14 points. It was the first time this season the Hawkeyes lost the turnover battle.
    • The Hawkeyes lost their first fumble on a strip sack on the second offensive play of the game.
  • Iowa won the toss and elected to receive. The Hawkeyes have played 346 games under head coach Kirk Ferentz. Iowa has opened the game on offense 255 times (165-90). The Hawkeyes have opened the game on defense 91 times (52-39).

UP NEXT

The Hawkeyes will return to action Friday, traveling to Seattle to face Washington at 8 p.m. (CT) at Husky Stadium.