C.J. Stroud threw four touchdown passes while throwing an interception and losing a fumble that resulted in the only Iowa touchdown.
Julian Fleming caught one of Stroud's passes for a seventy-nine-yard score to lead the offense.
Tommy Eichenberg grabbed an interception that he returned for a score and Tanner McAllister intercepted two passes.
Ohio State improved to 7-0 (4-0 Big Ten) and will travel to Penn State next week to meet the 6-1 Nittany Lions.
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1) The offense started firing in the second half against a good Iowa defense as C.J. Stroud started to hit his stride but there are concerns about more than Stroud following behind Tennessee's Hendon Hooker in the Heisman race.
2) The issue in question is the Ohio State red zone offense as Iowa forced the Buckeyes to kick field goals four times inside the Iowa 25.
Iowa's defense is very good and you have to keep that in consideration but against Penn State next week and eventually against Michigan, this cannot be a problem and touchdowns will need to be punched in.
3) I did like seeing Stroud pick himself up from a first half that wasn't up to far and saw his fumble turn into the only Iowa touchdown.
Sometimes, Stroud seems to press in adverse times and he seems to be settling in when things aren't going well which is a sign of a maturing passer.
4) Ohio State's offensive line still needs to prove that it can bang against physical defensive lines.
TreVeyon Henderson led the team in rushing with only thirty-eight yards on eleven carries and while that could be deceiving due to the number of times that Ohio State started in great field position, I still have concerns about the ability to move good teams off the ball.
5) The defensive line had similar worries before the season but they are resolving those concerns by bullying offensive lines and shutting down the run.
Iowa's offense is lousy but their running game isn't as poor as their passing aspect and Iowa was held to seventy-seven yards on the ground on thirty attempts for a paltry 2.56 yards per run.
6) Zach Harrison has always been a good player but one that left me a little disappointed after the hype of his recruitment that saw him as the center of his class and Ryan Day's first plum from a head-to-head recruiting showdown against Michigan for Harrison.
Harrison is starting to round into the player that he was projected to become and a look at his game against Iowa shows a sack, a batted-down pass in the end zone, a tackle for loss of a wideout, and a forced fumble recovered by Lathan Ramson as the type of dominating player that Harrison can be.
7) Tommy Eichenberg's interception return for a touchdown may have been the only note on the scoring summary but Eichenberg continues to fly all over the field and make plays that would win the Butkus Award if the choice were mine.
8) Jaxon Smith-Njigba returned and caught one pass for seven yards before departing.
There was some speculation that Smith-Njigba had re-injured his hamstring but Ryan Day reported after the game that he had reached his limit of plays and the team played with caution when holding a large lead.
9) The 54 points were the most ever scored against a Kirk Ferentz-led Iowa team and certainly doesn't help the fan base from a continued uneasiness with where their program is going.
The 67-year-old Ferentz is indeed an Iowa icon and it usually begins to get ugly as icons at schools begin to show signs of the game passing them by.
10) The Iowa offense is led by offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, who happens to be the son of the head coach and during a painful press conference, Kirk Ferentz again leaned on his record of never firing a coach in-season.
It's clear that Kirk Ferentz is protecting his son, which is admirable under any conditions but it's equally as clear that Brian Ferentz is responsible for an offense that might be the worst Power Five offense that anyone can remember in recent years.
11) Iowa may have a decision to make on Kirk Ferentz and it may come down to this- is Kirk Ferentz willing to remove Brian Ferentz from his job for 2023?
Perhaps a compromise could be made in which Brian Ferentz can have a job in the program in some capacity or even return as the offensive line coach, a job that he held in the past and did a good job doing with the Hawkeyes but something will have to be done in Iowa City.
12) Penn State has to be disappointed that their visit from the Buckeyes next week was selected as the Fox game and therefore will be at noon rather than the usual night game when the two teams play in State College.
The whiteout and the noise will be intact but it's much less effective when it doesn't take place under the lights and the Nittany Lion faithful must be disappointed with the change.
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