Emeka Egbuka caught three touchdown passes, and Jeremiah Smith made a spectacular one-handed catch for another score as No. 3 Ohio State struggled early but then defeated Iowa 35-7 on Saturday.
Quarterback Will Howard completed 21 of 25 passes for 209 yards and four touchdowns, and he also ran for 28 yards and a touchdown. Ohio State (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) corrected its mistakes from the first half and scored 21 points in a row during the third quarter.
The Buckeyes, holding a 7-0 lead at halftime, quickly took control at the start of the second half.
Ohio State faced a third-and-6 on their own 43-yard line when Howard launched a long pass to Smith, who had outrun two defenders.
Smith was brought down at the Iowa 3-yard line, but this gave him a chance to shine. On the next play, he jumped into the end zone and caught Howard’s high pass with his right arm while using his left arm to keep defensive back Deshaun Lee away.
On Iowa’s following drive, quarterback Cade McNamara fumbled the ball, and linebacker Cody Simon recovered it at the Iowa 19-yard line. Just three plays later, Howard ran around the left end for a touchdown, extending Ohio State’s lead to 21-0.
Ohio State turned McNamara’s interception into a touchdown, ending with a 15-yard touchdown catch by Egbuka. Then McNamara fumbled again, this time deep in Iowa’s territory, which led to Egbuka’s third touchdown catch.
“We really wanted to come out and have a great drive to start the third quarter,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “And then we started getting the short fields and the turnovers, and the game just flipped there. I think it ended up being 28 straight points.”
The Buckeyes rushed for a total of 203 yards, with Quinshon Judkins gaining 78 yards and TreVeyon Henderson adding 61 yards.
