COLUMBUS — Ohio State has spent the first month of the season trying to answer questions.
Saturday at Iowa may provide the clearest answers yet.
The No. 5 Buckeyes travel to Kinnick Stadium for their first Big Ten road game of the season against No. 14 Iowa, a 4-0 team that leads the nation in scoring defense at just 8.0 points per game. The Hawkeyes have allowed only three touchdowns through four games and are giving up fewer than 240 yards per contest.
Then there is the setting.
Kinnick Stadium will be sold out, College GameDay is returning to Iowa City for the first time in 20 years, and Ohio State has not played there since one of the ugliest losses in recent program history. In 2017, the third-ranked Buckeyes went into Iowa City and were blown out 55-24, with J.T. Barrett throwing four interceptions.
Ohio State is obviously a very different team now, but Iowa remains the type of opponent that can make small problems turn into something far bigger.
That is why several issues from the first four games are heightened this week.
The short-yardage running game was one of Ohio State’s biggest concerns early in the season, and Ryan Day specifically pointed to those situations after Kent State. That looked better against Illinois, where the offensive line generated more movement and the backs ran with greater authority, but one improved performance does not make the issue disappear. Against Iowa, those one-yard situations may decide the game.
The Hawkeyes rank among the nation’s best defenses against the run, allowing fewer than 90 rushing yards per game. If Ohio State gets into third-and-2 or fourth-and-1, there may not be an easy answer available. The Buckeyes will need the offensive line, Bo Jackson, Ja’Kobi Jackson, and the rest of the backfield to prove last week’s improvement was real.
The same applies in the red zone.
Ohio State’s red-zone execution had been uneven, both this year and last, another area that looked much better against Illinois. Ryan Day has repeatedly pointed to red-zone efficiency as an area that must improve. Against Iowa, settling for field goals instead of touchdowns is exactly how a favored team allows a home crowd and an underdog to stay alive.
Then there is the defensive line.
Ohio State finally produced a season-high three sacks against Illinois, but the front seven also allowed 199 rushing yards at six yards per carry. Kenyatta Jackson Jr. called the performance unacceptable afterward, while Day acknowledged that the Buckeyes still need more production and discipline up front.
That will be tested against an Iowa offense that has already produced four different 100-yard rushers this season.
The Hawkeyes are not always the slow, conservative stereotype they have carried for years. They rushed for 422 yards against Northern Iowa, and quarterback Hank Brown has given them more stability in the passing game. Brown completed 13 of 19 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter of Iowa’s comeback win at Michigan last week, including the game-winning touchdown as time expired. When Iowa gets good quarterback play, they as dangerous as any team in America because they are so well-coached.
Ohio State is the more talented team. That is not really in question.
But Iowa is exactly the kind of team that can make a favorite uncomfortable. The Hawkeyes defend, run the ball, protect possession, and rarely give opponents easy points. Add a sold-out Kinnick Stadium and a crowd that has waited nine years for Ohio State to return, and every mistake becomes louder.
The Buckeyes showed progress against Illinois.
Saturday will tell us whether that progress can survive in a place where the margins for error become much smaller.
