First thoughts: Buckeyes blow out Iowa without best offensive effort

COLUMBUS — If this was the clunker for Ohio State, it’s a win Ryan Day certainly will take and move on with.

The Buckeyes started slowly on offense. They kicked four first-half field goals and couldn’t figure out how to truly crack the Iowa defense. They looked out of sorts for most of the first half.

And yet, as the band struck up Carmen Ohio in the south end zone of Ohio Stadium on Saturday afternoon, the Buckeyes were still celebrating a six-score win over a Big Ten opponent. The Ohio State defense completely decimated a truly horrible Iowa offense, and the Buckeyes offense eventually poured on points in a 54-10 blowout win over the Hawkeyes.

No, it wasn’t the best effort from Ohio State. It certainly didn’t have to be, though, for it to roll up a massive point total and impress in the second half on its way to a 7-0 start.

Simply put, Ohio State certainly looked out of sorts offensively. But the defense stepped up and shut down a horrible Iowa offensive attack to give the Buckeyes another Big Ten blowout win.

That’s where the breakdown begins for Lettermen Row as Ohio State heads into a pivotal week of preparation for a trip to Penn State after a blowout win of hapless Iowa.

Zach Harrison breaks out, shows elite ability for Buckeyes

A lot of the Ohio State defensive pressure on opposing quarterbacks this season has come from the defensive tackles and linebackers. But Zach Harrison was the star of the defensive front on Saturday. Harrison had two tackles for loss, a sack, a deflected pass and a forced fumble — in the first half. He finished with one of his best performances of his collegiate career, showing the Buckeyes just how good he can be in defending both the run and pass. Harrison will be an asset for this defense down the stretch of the season. If this is the version of Zach Harrison Ohio State will have for the final five games, the ceiling of this defense is raised by a lot.

Issues pop up for normally-prolific Ohio State offense

Not every game will be perfect on offense, not even for the ultra-talented Ohio State offense led by C.J. Stroud. And credit is certainly due to Iowa for making life difficult for the Buckeyes for most of the afternoon. But there are issues that need ironed out in the week ahead for Ohio State. Stroud threw a bad interception. He fumbled deep in Buckeyes territory, a turnover that was returned for a touchdown. The running game wasn’t in sync; Ohio State averaged under 3 yards per carry on the afternoon. It also had four drives starting inside the Iowa 35-yard line, and all four ended in field goals. It can’t always be easy for Ohio State, especially against good defenses. And eventually, the talent prevailed and Ohio State found success in the passing game.

But it could have looked better than what the Buckeyes showed Saturday. There are plenty of things to clean up in the coming days.

Ohio State defense feasts on pathetic Iowa offense

The Iowa offense is as bad as advertised, and it was even worse in person than it looked on television in the first half of the year. But the Ohio State defense still took care of the business it should have. The unit forced five Iowa turnovers and scored a defensive touchdown for the first time this season — by way of a Tommy Eichenberg interception. Senior safety Tanner McCalister picked off two passes, and the Buckeyes recovered a pair of sloppy Hawkeyes turnovers. The Buckeyes are becoming more opportunistic on defense with each game, and that was on full display Saturday afternoon. Yes, the Iowa offense is horrible. And Ohio State did what good defenses should do against terrible units. But the signs of progress are evident, no matter how bad the offense it is facing.