Ohio State football vs. Iowa: Three keys to victory

2. The Ohio State football team can’t get complacent on defense

Yes, Iowa literally has the worst offense in all of football. They couldn’t even score a touchdown against South Dakota State, having their defense outscore their own offense. That doesn’t mean that the Buckeyes can get complacent on the defensive side of the ball.

This is a game where Jim Knowles is going to be looking for a shutout. I know his mentality and he’s going to be preaching that to the defense all week long. But if they get complacent, Iowa could get tricky and score a couple of times on them and then try to hold the ball to keep the score close.

Iowa’s game plan isn’t a secret. They are going to try to run the ball and control the clock as best they can. The Hawkeyes know they can’t keep up with Ohio State in a track meet, so they will try to slow the tempo and keep the Buckeyes off the field. Ohio State can’t let them do that.

This will be a test of how tough the defensive line is. Iowa’s running backs are going to get plenty of carries. If the Buckeyes can stop them and keep them from running up the middle, it’s going to be tough for the Hawkeyes to move the ball and score.

Again, Knowles’ group doesn’t have to do anything out of the ordinary. They just have to do what they have been doing to get the win. It would be nice to see a shutout though, especially the week before the Buckeyes travel to Happy Valley to take on a ranked Penn State team.

The last key to winning is pretty simple; value the football.