IOWA CITY, Iowa — Every Friday we’ll bring you a quick-hit look at the game ahead for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Ohio State at Iowa
Kickoff: 3:30
Network: CBS
Announcers: Brad Nessler, Charles Davis, Jenny Dell
History: Ohio State leads the all-time series 48-15-3 and has won seven of the last eight, with Iowa’s only recent win in Iowa City in 2017.
Info: Ohio State game notes & Iowa game notes
Game trailer
Buckeye I’ll be watching Saturday
DE Zion Grady: Ohio State needs more production out of the defensive end position opposite Kenyatta Jackson. If the staff is not going to trust Khary Wilder to be that player, then it needs to be Grady. He’s missed the last two games, but he’s expected back this week. It’s a good matchup against a physical offensive line. I’m eager to see if Grady looks like he can make an instant impact on the defensive line and make us all feel a little better about what the Buckeyes have going on at defensive end.— Bill
S Simeon Caldwell: The first time the Buckeyes went on the road, this true freshman was an afterthought, playing five defensive snaps. Ryan Day said this week the Buckeyes are willing to play more young guys in Road Game No. 2, and that might apply to Caldwell as much as anyone. I’ve been having a lot of conversations on and off mic about how good Earl Little Jr. is exactly. He’s definitely fine and solid. I’m curious how much more he is than that. Little played 89 percent of the defensive snaps against Texas. That went down to 74 percent of the snaps against Illinois. Caldwell is taking his spot as a big safety on passing downs, but how much more playing time might Caldwell earn?
Throw in the fact that fellow freshman Jay Timmons could miss this game, and there are two possible lanes for more Caldwell. When we talked about the Kid Six a couple weeks ago, our young guys were Chris Henry Jr., Brock Boyd and Legend Bey on offense and Khary Wilder, Riley Pettijohn and TJ Alford on defense.
Make it a Kid Seven (unless Grady is making it Eight.) — Doug
One thing I want Ohio State to do Saturday
Come out throwing. The Buckeyes are better throwing on first down, second down, third down … every down. There’s no reason to show up in Iowa City and try to play Iowa’s game. The difference between your team and their team is that you have a dynamic passing attack and the best receiver in the country.
If the Buckeyes turn this into a rushing game and try to win at the line of scrimmage, that invites Iowa into the game. If they come out leaning on Jeremiah Smith and throwing early, they can put the Hawkeyes in a hole and fight off the weird vibes of Kinnick Stadium. — Bill
Man, that Landis thing sounds like something I would write, doesn’t it? Let’s see the Air Raid in Iowa City! I’ll 100 percent agree with that. I’ll add that I want to see the young guys in the passing game, too. Chris Henry Jr. and Brock Boyd combined for 21 snaps at Texas. They combined for 47 snaps against Illinois. Let’s get that over 50 on Saturday. — Doug
Another game to watch with Ohio State in mind
Maryland at Nebraska, 4 PM, FS1: Keep an eye on this for two reasons — Nebraska might be good, and that trip for OSU to Lincoln right before the Michigan game could become quite tricky. Also, if Maryland loses this game, which would give Mike Locksley 10 straight losses to Power Four teams, I’m not sure he’s coaching the Terrapins in Columbus next weekend. — Bill
Stat to know
Iowa averaged 15.7 points per game in Big Ten play in the last two seasons with Brian Ferentz as the offensive play caller in 2022 and 2023. In the first two seasons and one game of Big Ten play with Tim Lester calling the plays, Iowa is averaging 26.9 points per game. You’re welcome, Kirk. — That Guy
Uniform Look
Lines
Ohio State -14.5
Over-under 45.5
Picks
Bill: Ohio State 28, Iowa 14
Doug: Ohio State 30, Iowa 19
On the season
Bill: 3-1 straight up, 3-1 spread, 1-3 over-under
Doug: 4-0 straight up, 2-2 spread, 2-2 over-under
Your vote
Ohio State will win by 15 points or more: 46 percent
Ohio State will win by 14 points or fewer: 54 percent
Combined score of 46 points or more: 38 percent
Combined score of 45 points or fewer: 62 percent
Iowa chances
Your vote on how much of a shot the Hawkeyes have:
No chance: 2 percent
Small chance: 49 percent
Some chance: 39 percent
Real chance: 10 percent
Good chance: 0 percent
Tracking network and kickoff times for the season
Network
Fox: 2
BTN: 1
ABC: 1
CBS: 1
Announcers
Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt: 2
Jeff Levering, Jake Butt: 1
Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit: 1
Brad Nessler, Charles Davis: 1
Kickoff time
Noon: 2
12:30: 1
3:30: 1
7:30: 1
Also
• ESPN’s College GameDay is broadcasting from Iowa City on Saturday. Ohio State has hosted more GameDays than any school, with 26, and has appeared on the most GameDays oveall, with Saturday making it 71. This is the second time this season that GameDay is at an OSU game — the crew hit the Texas game as well. It’s the second time in 20 years GameDay is at Iowa. The last, and only other time, ESPN set up its pregame show at Iowa was for the Buckeyes visit in 2006. The Buckeyes won that game 38-17 as Troy Smith threw four touchdown passes and Ohio State picked off Iowa’s Drew Tate three times.
• Jeremiah Smith needs 10 catches and two touchdown catches to break the Ohio State records in those two categories. We could definitely see it.
• Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz in 2-10 against the Buckeyes.
• Sept. 4, 1999: Ryan Day’s first game as the starting quarterback of the New Hampshire Wildcats. The sophomore led UNH to a 37-14 win at Rhode Island. The same day was Ferentz’s first game as the head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa lost at home to Nebraska 42-7.