COLUMBUS, Ohio — The distance between a good and a great football team is around 730 miles and eight hours in a vehicle. On the scoreboard, it’s about 200 yards and 28 points.
Ohio State confirmed itself to be a national title contender on Saturday, with elite performers at every position. Iowa, as it has displayed repeatedly the last few years, revealed that it’s a quality program with capable pieces at many spots but not enough juice to compete at the highest level.
Once again, No. 3 Ohio State towered above Iowa with a 35-7 win at The Horseshoe. It marked the Hawkeyes’ ninth straight road loss in the lopsided series, and it should come as no surprise that the Buckeyes’ margin of victory in those games is 20.7 points. Only twice has Iowa has come within single digits over that span in Columbus; the program’s most recent win at Ohio Stadium came in 1991.
But losing at Ohio State in decisive fashion isn’t Iowa’s problem. Far from it, in fact. Those losses have taken place for generations and will occur every four or five years from now until the apocalypse comes or private equity buys Big Ten football. The larger issue is that Iowa has struggled to contend against all ranked opponents, something it used to do regularly. And the separation is growing by the year.
Beginning with a 42-3 loss to Michigan in the 2021 Big Ten championship game, the Hawkeyes have been outscored 270-51 by their last eight ranked foes. Only one of those games was competitive, and the 89-17 combined score in their two most recent games against Ohio State shows how far away Iowa is from becoming a serious contender.
That needs to change, but how? Is Iowa even capable of doing it?
“There’s no magic formula,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “Just go back to work and try to get better and get to improve.
“We go back to January 1 (a 35-0 loss to Tennessee); that’s probably the last time we had a game like that that you’re alluding to. I think we’re a better team offensively right now, but time will tell.”
It wasn’t that long ago that Iowa consistently pulled off upsets and battled for four quarters against high-level teams. From 2008 through 2021, the Hawkeyes faced 16 top-10 opponents and won eight times. Of the eight losses, only the Rose Bowl disaster against Stanford had a final margin of more than 10 points. None of Iowa’s recent eight consecutive ranked losses were even competitive, outside of a 20-17 defeat to Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl to cap the 2021 season.
The Hawkeyes offense made the difference in many of those big wins. Although it has made strides compared to recent years, Iowa’s offense isn’t good enough to contend against a team as deep or as talented as Ohio State. Until the offense improves, the outcomes won’t.
The days of Iowa using a high-level defense to sneak a victory against a team like Ohio State are over. Name, image and likeness money and a wide-open transfer portal have changed that dynamic. In the past, NCAA rules would not have allowed Ohio State to keep its high-level defenders away from the NFL. A portal with immediate eligibility helped the Buckeyes grab a center, quarterback, running back and left tackle. The Buckeyes’ retained stars and new additions minimized their year-over-year talent gaps.
“When it when it comes to talent across the board, I just don’t know if a lot of other teams can match up like that,” Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins said. “It’s hard to pick out their weaknesses.”
That was true of Ohio State from the moment Woody Hayes first walked the sideline in 1951, and it will be the case in 2051. With a reported NIL war chest of $20 million, Ohio State kept its team intact and sprinkled in quality pieces. But just as important, Ohio State recruits at a level well beyond most programs.
Ohio State five-star freshman Jeremiah Smith, the nation’s No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2024, broke the game open with a 53-yard reception on third-and-6 in which he got behind sixth-year defensive backs Quinn Schulte and Jermari Harris. One play later, Smith posterized cornerback Deshaun Lee for a one-handed 4-yard touchdown catch that gave the Buckeyes an insurmountable 14-0 lead.
No matter what the Hawkeyes did on Saturday, it wasn’t enough. Not on offense, defense or special teams. The defense played well for a half, but that was after stealing possessions with a forced fumble, an interception and a fourth-down stop. The offense flat-lined pretty much the entire game against an elite defense without a real weakness. A missed field goal and a couple of shanked punts didn’t provide any edges on the margins, either.
Three turnovers on Iowa’s next three possessions led to three Ohio State touchdowns, which turned a losing battle into a collapse. In the process, it realistically ended any College Football Playoff hopes for the Hawkeyes — their chances to make the field fell to 3 percent in the most recent update to Austin Mock’s model.
Iowa needed a close, competitive game in Columbus to make a realistic case that it deserves consideration for the 12-team field should it win out. Although their flaws were magnified by a superior team, the Hawkeyes still have a good running game and a quality defense. But Saturday’s result needed to be a 10-point loss, not 28. The eye test still matters to the CFP selection committee, and the Hawkeyes frankly don’t measure up when it counts.
(Photo: Jason Mowry / Getty Images)
