A week after a stirring comeback victory over Penn State, Ohio State laid an egg. The 17-point favorites went into Iowa and were buried by the Hawkeyes, who dominated on both sides of the ball in a 55-24 blowout. The 55 points are the most allowed by an Urban Meyer coached team in his 16 years as a head coach and the 31-point loss ties the largest margin of defeat in his career equaling last season's 31-0 loss to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl.
Buckeye quarterback J.T. Barrett, the reigning national player of the week, threw an interception, returned 30 yards for a touchdown by Iowa's Amani Hooker on Ohio State's first offensive play to set the tone for the afternoon. Barrett, who had thrown one interception all season, was picked off four times by the Iowa defense. The other three interceptions were by star Hawkeye DB Josh Jackson.
But Barrett was not the only issue for Ohio State. The Buckeye defense was dominated by Iowa, who came into the game averaging 25 points and 346 yards per game. On this afternoon the Hawkeyes scored 55 and piled up 487 yards of offense, including 243 on the ground.
The loss will almost certainly knock Ohio State (7-2, 5-1 Big Ten) out of national championship contention but the Buckeyes do still control their own destiny for a Big Ten Championship. OSU will try to regroup next week when Michigan State comes to town. The Spartans (7-2, 5-1 Big Ten) are coming off a 27-24 upset of Penn State and are now tied with Ohio State for the lead in the Big Ten east division.