COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Buckeyes extended their winning streak, the nation’s longest, to 19 games with a 34-24 win over Iowa Saturday at Ohio Stadium.
For the second game in a row, Ohio State (7-0) found itself trailing on the scoreboard and had to rely on strong second-half performances by quarterback Braxton Miller and running back Carlos Hyde to erase the deficit and build a lead the defense could protect.
“We’re not starting as fast as we used to and I’m going to address that,” head coach Urban Meyer said.
Hyde gained 149 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns while Miller completed 22 of 27 pass attempts for 222 yards and two scores while tacking on 112 rushing yards for a total of 324 yards of offense.
The Buckeye defense struggled to control Iowa’s offense in the first half, keeping their own on the sideline, but the OSU reversed the trend in the second half.
After falling behind 17-10 at halftime, Ohio State controlled the ball for all but about seven minutes of the second half and outscored the Hawkeyes 24-7 on the strength of Hyde’s 106 rushing yards and two touchdowns and a pair of efficient scoring drives – one of 75 yards and another of 84 – that resulted in two touchdowns and a 24-17 lead.
The opening drive of the third quarter ended with the first rushing touchdown allowed by the Iowa defense this season, a one-yard Hyde plunge. Miller hit Devin Smith from 14 yards out at the end of an 11-play, 84-yard drive to give the Buckeyes their first lead of the game with 3:15 left to play in the third quarter.
The Buckeye defense, stung for 222 yards in the first half, stiffened for the first 12:27 of the third quarter, until Jake Duzey outran Armani Reeves, who was playing for the ejected Bradley Roby, caught a Jake Rudock pass in stride and bolted down the right sideline for an 85-yard touchdown, knotting the score up again at 24 as the game headed into the fourth quarter.
The Buckeyes had lost Roby in the first quarter when he was ejected for targeting receiver C.J. Fiedorowicz, a call that drew a thunderous chorus of disappointed howls from OSU fans after it was challenged and upheld. Meyer did not indicate in his post-game news conference whether he agreed with the call or not.
“I got fined $30,000 once for going after an official so I’m not going to do that,” he said.
The Buckeyes responded in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter with a highlight-reel play of their own: Hyde capped a 75-yard drive with a brilliant 19-yard touchdown during which he stumbled, reversed course and finally dived into the end zone.
Drew Basil added a field goal to give Ohio State a 34-24 lead they never surrendered.
The Hawkeyes controlled the ball for 9:30 of the opening quarter, taking a 10-3 lead and keeping Ohio State’s offense on the sidelines.
The Buckeyes struck a little over a minute into the second quarter when Braxton Miller hit a streaking Corey “Philly” Brown for a 58-yard touchdown and the score was tied for the first time.
Jake Rudock connected with Kevonte Martin-Manley for a six-yard touchdown to give the Hawkeyes (4-3) a 17-10 lead at half.