Iowa vs. Ohio State: An underrated rivalry with a big what if and many major moments

June 20, 2024

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Realignment has its quirks, and then there’s the Ohio State-Iowa football series.

One of the most underrated great Big Ten competitions, the Hawkeyes and Buckeyes have met just once in eight seasons of the league’s East-West divide. During the past 15 years, they have faced off four times — the same number of cancellations during that time. Ohio State won by a field goal in 2009 and 2010, and in 2013 broke open a tie game in the fourth quarter to win by 10 points. Iowa exacted some pent-up frustration with a shocking 55-24 victory in 2017. And that’s it.

They were supposed to meet in 2011 and 2012, but those games were tossed aside for Legends and Leaders. They were set to hook up in 2014, but Rutgers and Maryland joined the Big Ten party. Iowa and Ohio State were supposed to play in 2020, but COVID-19 shredded that potential top-15 matchup, too.

“It’s crazy for the Hawkeyes who have graduated and haven’t played in our place,” Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said this year. “Some of those warts, we’ve got to figure out if we can mitigate those, and non-divisions allow you to do that a little bit easier.”

Whether the Big Ten eliminates divisions next year or in 2024, it’s good news for the league when it can incorporate series like Ohio State-Iowa more often. Entering this season, the Buckeyes have the most overall and league wins among Big Ten teams while the Hawkeyes are third since the East-West divide in 2014. Considering Ohio State has five championship appearances and Iowa has two during that eight-year period, it’s strange that they hadn’t met in Indianapolis, either. It’s even more odd that most of Iowa’s starters from the last time the Hawkeyes played in Columbus are in their 30s.

Kick time in Columbus ⤵️#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/p4jQlvpdM4

— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) October 10, 2022

Perhaps what’s most fascinating — and understated — is how often the sides have met with ultra-high stakes. From 1954 to 2010, the teams had met 18 times as ranked opponents, with 13 coming in Top 15 matchups. Seven times they both were ranked in the Top 10, and the Buckeyes won four. Both inflicted significant misery on the other in ruining national championship dreams, like Ohio State did to Iowa in 1957, 1958 and 1985, and the Hawkeyes countered against the Buckeyes in 1960 and 2017. Ohio State’s last-second win in 1990 kept Iowa from clinching an outright Big Ten title, and six other times their collision determined the league champion.

Strangest of all, the teams twice tied for the Big Ten regular-season title without facing one another. In 1981, Iowa and Ohio State were the only Big Ten teams not to play each other, and they finished 6-2. The Hawkeyes claimed the Rose Bowl nod on the season’s final day when Michigan upset the Buckeyes. Ohio State and Iowa ended the 2002 regular season ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the AP poll and were 8-0 in league play. In an 11-team Big Ten, there was no championship game, and the unblemished Buckeyes claimed the league’s spot in the BCS title game because Iowa had a nonconference loss.

The greatest (B1G) game never played

When Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey’s final pass in the desert fell incomplete in double overtime and Ohio State earned the 2002 national title — its first since 1968 — there was no dispute about who was the best team in the land, as coach Jim Tressel proclaimed in Tempe, Ariz. Ohio State was 14-0 and stopped a seemingly invincible Hurricanes team 31-24.

Iowa finished 11-2 that year after a resounding 38-17 loss in the Orange Bowl to USC and Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer. Chalk it up to immaturity, inactivity or inability — or a combination of all three — but the 47-day layoff did the Hawkeyes no favors. Iowa’s regular season ended with a 45-21 pounding of rival Minnesota on Nov. 16. Just four years removed from a winless Big Ten campaign, the Hawkeyes were the toast of their state and lapped it up for nearly seven weeks.

“I would say probably a combination of that and some other things, too,” said quarterback Brad Banks, the Big Ten’s Silver Football winner and the 2002 Heisman Trophy runner-up. “God knows, I wish my maturity level was … it’s gotten a little better since then.

“I look back on it, and I used to deny that, that we had six weeks off, or whatever that timeframe was, that it had an effect on us. That’s just me being a competitor and knowing what should have happened and just taking the ‘L’ for what it is. But being realistic about it, it definitely had a toll in a way.”

The Buckeyes’ national title and Iowa’s Orange Bowl flameout stop the historical debate in its tracks. But had they met in late November or early December, it might have rivaled Iowa-Michigan in 1985 or the Michigan-Ohio State thrillers in 2006 and 2016 among the great games in league annals.

Ohio State was built with the nation’s best defense and a power running game led by freshman Maurice Clarett. Iowa (yes, Iowa) boasted the Big Ten’s most efficient offense, ranking 13th nationally in yards per game. Banks led the Big Ten with 26 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He threw for 2,573 yards, and his passer efficiency rating of 157.1 was the best in the NCAA. Ohio State safety Mike Doss was named the Big Ten defensive player of the year.

There were numerous plaudits for both teams. Iowa’s Dallas Clark won the Mackey Award as the nation’s best tight end, and guard Eric Steinbach was named the league’s offensive lineman of the year. Ohio State linebacker Matt Wilhelm joined Clark and Steinbach as consensus All-Americans. Iowa’s Nate Kaeding won the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s top kicker, while Ohio State counterpart Mike Nugent was the consensus All-America kicker. Even the coaches split the votes with Tressel and Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz earning different national coach of the year honors.

It was a game everyone wanted but no one could get unless Miami somehow tripped up.

“I’ve got a lot of friends back in Ohio,” said Glen Mason, Minnesota’s head coach at the time and a former Ohio State player and assistant coach. “But I think Iowa is the better team. That’s why you play the game. I say that because Iowa is absolutely complete. Offense, defense, kicking game.”

“It’s a shame they’re not playing each other,” then-Penn State head coach Joe Paterno said at the time. “They’re two big-time football teams. Iowa could beat anybody and Ohio State could beat anybody — and I mean anybody, not just in the Big Ten.”

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Taken in context, the numbers show how even of a battle the teams would have enjoyed. Iowa led the Big Ten in scoring offense, while Ohio State was No. 1 in scoring defense and total defense. The Hawkeyes featured the top rushing defense in league play, while the Buckeyes were tops in all games. Ohio State had the best punting game, while Iowa was No. 1 in punt and kick returners. Iowa’s point differential was 228, while Ohio State’s was 227.

During the final month of the season, no team played better than Iowa. The Hawkeyes outscored their final four opponents 161-43 (40-11 average score) and outgained them 1,736-969 (434-242 average). The Buckeyes outscored their final four opponents 81-34 (20-9) but were outgained 1,179-1,174.

In their final four games, they had two common opponents: Michigan (10-3) and Minnesota (8-5). Iowa also played eight-win Wisconsin and three-win Northwestern. Ohio State faced seven-win Purdue and five-win Illinois. The Hawkeyes and Buckeyes both routed Minnesota (Iowa 45-21, Ohio State 34-3). Iowa rolled Northwestern 62-10 and Wisconsin 20-3 in the other November games. Ohio State rallied to top Purdue 10-6 on the “Holy Buckeye” fourth-down touchdown pass and held off Illinois 23-16 in overtime.

The Michigan games might provide some difference between the two. The Wolverines outgained Ohio State 368-264, but the Buckeyes prevailed 14-9 in the season finale. Iowa crushed Michigan 34-9, the Wolverines’ worst home loss in 35 years. The Hawkeyes outgained Michigan 391-171 and won the rushing battle 177-22 edge.

Banks made a Heisman statement during those final four games, completing 62.8 percent of his passes for 794 yards, 10 touchdowns and no interceptions. Ohio State counterpart Craig Krenzel connected on 43-of-71 passes (60.5 percent) for 617 yards, three scores and one interception. Iowa rushed for 917 yards (4.8 yards per carry) and nine touchdowns. Ohio State ran for 557 yards (3.3 yards per carry) and six scores.

Chicago Tribune columnist Andrew Bagnato predicted Iowa would win 24-23. He wrote: “I’ve seen both teams play more than once, and in recent weeks I’ve watched the Buckeyes struggle to hold off mediocre teams such as Wisconsin, Purdue and Illinois. Iowa is not mediocre.”

Clark and Doss were teammates with the Indianapolis Colts and used to joust about the hypothetical outcome. Banks and Doss used to have their own conversations about a proposed matchup.

“It would have been a really, really good game,” Banks said. “They had some players on their team, and we had some players. I always felt like we probably would have edged them, but that’s how you feel. You’ve got to go out and play. I think we would have got them.”

Iowa’s season wrapped up Nov. 16; Ohio State beat Michigan on Nov. 23. The dream matchup never happened, and the loss to USC still grates on Iowa’s players 20 years later.

“As a competitor, you think of the bad stuff and losses,” said Iowa offensive tackle Robert Gallery, who won the Outland Trophy in 2003. “I wouldn’t say we weren’t ready to go, but it happened the way it happened. But, I do, I wish we played that following week because I really believed I don’t think there’s anyone that could have beat us. But that’s what it is, a great team, a great year, but to end like that, still 20 years later, it leaves a sour taste in your mouth.”

Other major moments

While the 2002 non-game ranks among the Big Ten’s greatest “what ifs,” the programs have a shared history well beyond a game that never happened. During a nine-year period, Iowa’s Forest Evashevski and Ohio State’s Woody Hayes were 4-4 against one another, and four of their games determined the Big Ten champion and impacted the national race.

After 10 consecutive meetings in Columbus from 1927 to 1951, the Buckeyes traveled to Iowa City in 1952 in what appeared to be a cakewalk matchup. Ohio State was No. 14 but had outscored Iowa 130-42 the previous two seasons. Instead, Evashevski got the best of Hayes and the Buckeyes in a shocking 8-0 upset. That set the stage for a decade of monumental battles.

In 1956, a third-quarter touchdown pass lifted No. 7 Iowa past No. 6 Ohio State 6-0. It clinched the Big Ten title and the first Rose Bowl trip for the Hawkeyes, who ended their regular season against Notre Dame annually from 1949 to 1964. The next season, Iowa and Ohio State met in a winner-take-all crescendo. The Buckeyes forced three Iowa fumbles and three interceptions in a 17-13 win. Ohio State claimed the outright Big Ten title and finished No. 2 nationally. Iowa ended the year ranked No. 6.

“I thought we should have beaten them decisively,” 1957 Heisman Trophy runner-up and Iowa lineman Alex Karras said after the game. “If it hadn’t been for our mistakes, they don’t really belong on the same field with us.”

In 1958, Ohio State cost unbeaten Iowa the undisputed national title in a 38-28 win, but the Hawkeyes still clinched the Big Ten championship. Iowa finished No. 2 in the major polls and No. 1 by the Football Writers Association of America. Ohio State ended the year No. 8. In 1960, which was Evashevski’s final game as coach, No. 5 Iowa ripped No. 3 Ohio State 35-12. The Hawkeyes earned a share of the Big Ten title, and it cost Ohio State a chance to do the same.

Iowa wandered through the Big Ten wilderness without even a winning season from 1962 to 1980, but its 1981 co-Big Ten title set up several important games with the Buckeyes. In 1983, the No. 7 Hawkeyes topped No. 3 Ohio State 20-14. Two years later, No. 8 Ohio State halted No. 1 Iowa’s unbeaten run with a 22-13 win at rainy Ohio Stadium. A late-season Ohio State loss allowed Iowa to claim the outright Big Ten title that season.

In 1987, the Hawkeyes’ desperation 28-yard touchdown pass to tight end Marv Cook on fourth-and-23 beat Ohio State 29-27 with two seconds left and cost Buckeyes head coach Earle Bruce his job two days later. In 1990, an Ohio State receiver forever known to Iowa fans as Bobby “Freaking” Olive caught a touchdown pass with one second left to edge No. 6 Iowa 27-26. In 1991, a day after a mass shooting killed six people on Iowa’s campus, the No. 11 Hawkeyes stripped their decals and beat No. 13 Ohio State 16-9 in Columbus.

With ESPN’s “College GameDay” broadcasting live in Iowa City, the No. 2 Buckeyes beat the No. 20 Hawkeyes 38-26 in 1996. Ohio State finished 7-1 in Big Ten play; Iowa was 6-2. The next year, “GameDay” returned for the rematch in Columbus, and the No. 7 Buckeyes topped the No. 11 Hawkeyes 23-7. In 2006, in what remains the most recent trip by the signature pregame show to Iowa’s campus, No. 1 Ohio State stomped No. 13 Iowa 38-17.

The final winner-take-all Big Ten regular-season championship game took place Nov. 14, 2009, in Columbus. No. 10 Ohio State took a two-touchdown lead on No. 15 Iowa in the fourth quarter, then the Hawkeyes rallied for two touchdowns to send the game to overtime. Backup Ohio State kicker Devin Barclay drilled the game-winning field goal to win 27-24 and sent 50,000 to the playing field. A year later in Iowa City, quarterback Terrelle Pryor converted a fourth-and-10 and led the No. 8 Buckeyes on a last-minute touchdown drive to stop No. 21 Iowa 20-17. Not only did the loss mortally wound the Hawkeyes’ season, it cost them prize commit Melvin Gordon, who was in attendance and flipped to Wisconsin afterward.

In their only two meetings of the divisional era, No. 4 Ohio State outlasted Iowa 34-24 with 10 fourth-quarter points at Ohio Stadium. Then in 2017, in perhaps the most surprising score in recent memory, Iowa took No. 3 Ohio State to the “Woodshed,” a term made famous by The Cedar Rapids Gazette’s headline after the 55-24 game.

The Buckeyes and Hawkeyes don’t have a trophy, their games don’t have a nickname, and they largely operate in different tiers of expectations. But they share an underrated history that gives the Big Ten character. On Saturday, nine years after their last meeting at the Horseshoe, they’ll finally get reacquainted and remember they’re in the same conference.

(Photo of James Butler in 2017: Keith Gillett / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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