No one needed to rewatch the tape to see which matchup decided this one. Iowa came into Saturday with one of the best defenses in the country. They were allowing eight points and 152 passing yards per game. The Hawkeyes knew exactly who Ohio State’s best player was. They also knew that keeping the ball away from Jeremiah Smith was their best shot at another upset at Kinnick.
It didn’t matter. Smith caught 11 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-14 win. And for me, Smith against Iowa’s secondary
was the matchup that decided the game. That shouldn’t surprise anyone at this point.
The numbers are almost silly. Smith accounted for 206 of Julian Sayin’s 324 passing yards. Iowa finished with 238 total yards, and only 39 of those came on the ground. That means Smith by himself outgained the Hawkeyes’ entire passing attack. Ohio State’s 484 total yards more than doubled Iowa’s output.
Smith kept Ohio State afloat in a sloppy first half
For most of the first half, this looked like the kind of game Iowa wants to play. Ohio State jumped ahead 7-0 less than two minutes in. Kenyatta Jackson Jr.’s strip sack set up a 15-yard touchdown pass from Sayin to Devin McCuin. After that, the offense started getting in its own way.
A false start stalled a drive that ended in a field goal. Connor Hawkins hit the top of the left upright on a 40-yard try. Sayin was sacked and fumbled on another possession, and the Buckeyes were lucky to get it back. Meanwhile, Caden Buhr hit field goals from 43 and 48 yards, and Iowa was hanging around at 10-6 deep into the second quarter.
Smith was the one thing working. On the first play of the second quarter, Sayin threw down the middle into a crowd of Iowa defenders. Smith shoved one of them off, made the catch, and turned it into a 54-yard gain to the Iowa 21. Ryan Day admitted afterward it wasn’t a great read by his quarterback. He said the throw and the catch were good enough to overcome it anyway. When your receiver turns a bad read into a 54-yard gain, the defense has a problem it can’t scheme its way out of.
Then came the drive that changed the afternoon. Ohio State took over at its own 16 with 1:48 left in the half and went 84 yards in nine plays. On third-and-4 from the 12, Sayin went right back to Smith. Smith caught it at the 3 and stretched the ball across the goal line just before his knee hit the ground, with 12 seconds left.
That touchdown tied Chris Olave’s school record of 35 career touchdown catches and sent Ohio State into the break up 17-6. It also kept a ridiculous streak alive. The Buckeyes have scored a touchdown in the final 15 seconds of the first half in all five games this season. At halftime, Smith had six catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. Iowa’s entire offense had 133 yards.
The record came when Iowa lost him completely
The first half was about Smith winning against tight coverage. The dagger came when Iowa lost track of him altogether. The Ohio State defense forced a three-and-out midway through the third quarter, and the Buckeyes went 75 yards in five plays. On second and 4, Sayin stepped up in the pocket and found Smith running completely free down the right side. Smith caught it at the Iowa 15, beat the last defender, and finished a 57-yard touchdown that made it 24-6 with 6:11 left in the third.
It was his 36th career touchdown catch, breaking Olave’s record, and he celebrated with the Heisman pose in the back of the end zone. Iowa never got within two scores again.
Smith also passed Emeka Egbuka for the program’s career receptions record in this game. He already owned the yardage record he took from Michael Jenkins against Kent State. So that gives him the Ohio State triple crown: 207 catches, 3,381 yards, and 36 touchdowns, all in 34 career games.
This time, a Smith-heavy offense was enough
After the Texas loss, I wrote that Ohio State needed more than Smith to beat good teams. Against Kent State and Illinois, the rest of the receiver room showed up at points. On Saturday, the distribution swung back toward Smith. McCuin was productive, with four catches for 80 yards and a touchdown. That included a 20-yarder on the two-minute drive and a 34-yarder that set up Ja’Kobi Jackson’s 7-yard touchdown run for a 31-6 lead. Outside of Smith and McCuin, though, the rest of the Buckeyes combined for five catches and 38 yards.
The difference from Austin is that it worked this time. Against Texas, the passing game dried up after halftime and Sayin finished the second half 5-of-16. Against Iowa, Ohio State leaned on Smith and paired him with a run game that finally showed up. Ja’Kobi Jackson ran for 72 yards and a touchdown, and Bo Jackson added 70 yards. The Buckeyes held the ball for roughly 38 minutes and closed the game instead of letting it slip.
The history keeps piling up. Smith is the first player in Ohio State history with back-to-back 200-yard receiving games, and only the second in Big Ten history after Indiana’s Ty Fryfogle. He joined Jaxon Smith-Njigba as the only Buckeyes with multiple 200-yard games in a career. Through five games, he has 44 catches for 823 yards and nine touchdowns. He’s gone over 150 yards in four of those games, which ties David Boston’s 1998 program record for a single season.
Smith has the answer for everyone right now
Smith made it clear afterward that the Heisman is on his mind. “I’ve got to get to New York this year,” he said. He also said the bigger goal is bringing Ohio State a national championship before he leaves. After Saturday, it’s hard to argue with the first part. Iowa had a top-two scoring defense, a packed Kinnick Stadium and the memory of 2017 on its side. It knew where the ball was going and still couldn’t stop it.
Ohio State returns home to host Maryland for Homecoming on Oct. 10. Then comes a trip to Indiana, the team that beat the Buckeyes in last year’s Big Ten title game. Smith is three touchdown catches from Braylon Edwards’ Big Ten career record of 39, so the conference record book is next.
Iowa had a plan for Jeremiah Smith. Smith had the answer anyway.
