Iowa at Ohio State: What to know about Saturday’s game

Where: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

TV/Radio: FOX/1410

Series history: Ohio State leads 47-15-3 including a victory in 2010 that was vacated because of NCAA sanctions. That includes a 31-9-1 record at Ohio Stadium. Iowa has two wins against the Buckeyes since the turn of the century and last won at Ohio Stadium in 1991 (16-9).

Last meeting: Iowa returned an interception for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage and surged to a 55-24 upset victory in Iowa City in 2017 that knocked Ohio State out of the College Football Playoff race.

Coaches: Ohio State’s Ryan Day is 40-4 in three seasons, including 26–1 in the Big Ten. Kirk Ferentz is 181-113 in 24 seasons at Iowa and 193-134 overall in 27 years as a head coach.

Ohio State notes: The Buckeyes have scored on all 29 of their red zone trips this season, including 27 touchdowns… Ohio State’s defense is in the national top 10 in third-down pct. (6th; 22 of 81 for 27 pct.), total defense (5th; 253.5 yards per game), first downs allowed (2nd; 75 total), passing yards (7th, 160.3), rushing yards (9th, 93.2) and scoring (10th, 15.7)… Ohio State has won 27 consecutive home Big Ten games… C.J. Stroud leads the nation with 24 touchdown passes and 10.9 yards per pass attempt… Marvin Harrison Jr. leads the nation with nine touchdown catches while Emeka Egbuka is ninth with six.

Iowa notes: The Hawkeyes rank 130th or worse nationally in nearly every major offensive stat… They are seventh in total defense, third in scoring and third in passing yards allowed while ranking 24th in rushing… Michigan is the only team to score more than 10 points against the Hawkeyes this season… Iowa has two senior LBs with more than 200 career tackles. Jack Campbell has 239 career stops (39th all-time at Iowa) and Seth Benson has 214, ranking 63rd all-time… The Iowa roster includes four players from Ohio — running back Kaleb Johnson (Hamilton), linebacker Jestin Jacobs (Northmont), tight end Luke Lachey (Grandview) and quarterback Joe Labas (Brecksville)… Jacobs was expected to be a regular on the defense but had a season-ending surgery in late September… Johnson is the team’s No. 2 rusher and top kick return man… Lachey is the son of Ohio State radio analyst and Pro Bowl offensive lineman Jim Lachey.

Quoted: Ferentz on facing Ohio State: “All in all, a tough challenge. Factor on top of it that it’s a tough environment to go into, tough Big Ten environment. Always has been. Certainly won’t be any different. Part of that, they have a nice streak going. Part of that is the environment. The bigger part is they’re a really good football team, good program, and have been historically since I started in the league in ‘81. That part doesn’t come as a surprise. Big challenge for us. We’re looking forward to getting ready for that and seeing where we measure up Saturday.”

Next week: Ohio State travels to Penn State for another noon game next Saturday. Iowa returns home to play Northwestern at 3:30 p.m. EST next Saturday.

Prediction: Ohio State 30, Iowa 13