There are certain road games on the schedule where style points don’t matter nearly as much as simply walking out with the win.

Iowa City is one of those places.

Ohio State had not played inside Kinnick Stadium since the nightmare afternoon of 2017, and the atmosphere Saturday afternoon had all the ingredients that make Iowa dangerous. The Hawkeyes entered ranked No. 14, undefeated at 4-0 and fresh off a road victory against Michigan. College GameDay was in town for the first time in 20 years, Kinnick was striped in black and gold and there was more than enough recent history to remind Ohio State exactly what can happen when a favorite allows Iowa to hang around.

The fifth-ranked Buckeyes never really gave the upset a chance to develop.

Ohio State scored on its opening possession, never trailed and gradually pulled away for a 31-14 victory, improving to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play. The Buckeyes outgained Iowa 484-238, possessed the football for more than 38 minutes, did not turn it over and held the Hawkeyes to only 53 offensive plays.

Julian Sayin threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns. Jeremiah Smith went over 200 receiving yards for the second consecutive week. The running backs combined for more than 140 yards. And a defense that had surrendered 462 yards to Illinois one week earlier held Iowa to fewer than half that total.

This wasn’t Ohio State overwhelming an opponent in the first quarter and cruising.

It was something arguably more useful.

The Buckeyes went into a difficult road environment against a ranked Big Ten opponent and controlled the game.

FINAL WHISTLE: OHIO STATE 31, IOWA 14

Ohio State could not have scripted the opening much better.

The Buckeyes received the football and covered 75 yards in only four plays, with Sayin connecting with Devin McCuin for a 15-yard touchdown just 1:37 into the afternoon.

Iowa responded with a 43-yard field goal, but Ohio State answered with three of its own on a 28-yard Connor Hawkins kick to make it 10-3.

The Hawkeyes added another field goal as the first quarter expired, and for much of the second quarter the game began to settle into the kind of uncomfortable rhythm Iowa prefers. The Buckeyes had moved the football, but the Hawkeyes were hanging around at 10-6.

Then Ohio State produced the drive it needed.

With less than a minute remaining before halftime, Sayin moved the Buckeyes into scoring position and found Jeremiah Smith from 12 yards out with 18 seconds left.

Instead of taking a four-point lead into halftime, Ohio State took a 17-6 advantage.

That mattered.

Kinnick Stadium never got the opportunity to enter the second half believing one mistake could flip the game.

The Buckeyes added another touchdown midway through the third quarter when Smith broke loose for a 57-yard score, pushing the lead to 24-6. Ja’Kobi Jackson then scored from seven yards out early in the fourth quarter to make it 31-6.

Iowa finally reached the end zone with 9:34 remaining and added the two-point conversion, but by that point Ohio State had already taken control.

The Buckeyes spent the closing minutes doing something that has occasionally been difficult this season.

They finished.

JEREMIAH SMITH NOW OWNS THE RECORD BOOK

A week ago, Jeremiah Smith tied an Ohio State record with four touchdown catches against Illinois.

This week, he decided to take a few more records for himself.

Smith entered Saturday needing 10 receptions to surpass Emeka Egbuka’s Ohio State career record of 205 catches and two touchdown receptions to move past Chris Olave’s program record of 35. He already owned the career receiving-yardage record after passing Michael Jenkins against Kent State.

His final line against Iowa?

11 receptions. 206 yards. Two touchdowns.

That gives Smith 207 career receptions and 36 career receiving touchdowns, meaning the junior now owns Ohio State’s career records for receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.

All three.

At Ohio State.

For a program that has produced Cris Carter, David Boston, Michael Jenkins, Santonio Holmes, Michael Thomas, Terry McLaurin, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, it is difficult to overstate how remarkable that is.

And Smith isn’t finished.

His 206 yards Saturday also came one week after producing 217 against Illinois. In the span of two Big Ten games, Smith has caught 23 passes for 423 yards and six touchdowns.

The 57-yard touchdown against Iowa was another example of why defensive game plans built around simply “knowing where No. 4 is” aren’t enough.

Everybody knows where he is.

Stopping him remains another matter entirely.

JULIAN SAYIN CONTINUES TO LOOK LIKE THE QUARTERBACK OHIO STATE NEEDS

The receiver putting up historic numbers naturally gets most of the attention, but Sayin deserves plenty of credit for what Ohio State’s passing game has become.

Sayin completed 20 of 27 passes for 324 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, averaging 12 yards every time he attempted a pass.

That’s an important performance because Iowa entered the game with a defense built to make quarterbacks uncomfortable and force offenses to remain patient.

Sayin did both.

He connected with McCuin for the opening touchdown, found Smith late in the first half when Ohio State needed separation and then delivered the explosive 57-yard touchdown in the third quarter that changed the complexion of the game.

Just as important, he protected the football.

Ohio State finished with zero turnovers in an environment where one giveaway can change everything.

Sayin’s season is also beginning to develop an interesting arc. The collapse at Texas raised legitimate questions about Ohio State’s ability to close games and about how Sayin would respond after his first real adversity as the Buckeyes’ starter this season.

Since then, he has continued looking increasingly comfortable.

Illinois produced a career-high five total touchdowns.

Iowa produced another 300-yard afternoon and three more scores.

There will be much more difficult football ahead, but Sayin no longer looks like a quarterback simply surrounded by elite skill talent.

He looks like one of the reasons the offense is becoming elite.

THE RUN GAME PASSES A MORE MEANINGFUL TEST

One of the recurring questions through the first month of the season has been whether Ohio State can consistently run the football when it isn’t relying on explosive plays against overmatched opponents.

Saturday was probably the best answer we’ve received so far.

Ohio State ran the football 47 times and finished with 160 rushing yards. Ja’Kobi Jackson led the Buckeyes with 72 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, while Bo Jackson added 70 yards on 16 attempts.

Those numbers don’t jump off the page like a 200-yard rushing performance might.

That’s not really the point.

Ohio State kept handing the football off.

It remained patient.

It stayed ahead of the chains often enough to keep Iowa’s defense from simply attacking Sayin.

Most importantly, the Buckeyes were able to run when the situation demanded it.

That is progress.

Against Ball State, two huge runs inflated the final rushing total. Against Texas, Ohio State struggled to generate consistent movement at the line of scrimmage. The Kent State and Illinois games showed improvement.

Iowa offered a more legitimate test.

The Buckeyes didn’t dominate the Hawkeyes at the line of scrimmage on every snap, but they produced enough steady gains to stay balanced and eventually leaned on the ground game to shorten the afternoon.

For an offense that already has Smith and Sayin threatening defenses vertically, that’s exactly what Ohio State needs.

The running game doesn’t have to become the identity.

It simply has to become something defenses are forced to respect.

Saturday was another step in that direction.

DEVIN McCUIN GIVES DEFENSES ANOTHER PROBLEM

Jeremiah Smith is going to command most of the defensive attention every week.

That makes performances like Devin McCuin’s increasingly important.

McCuin caught four passes for 80 yards and a touchdown, averaging 20 yards per reception. His 15-yard touchdown opened the scoring, and he added a 34-yard reception as another vertical threat opposite Smith.

That’s precisely what Ohio State needs.

Defenses are going to continue shifting coverage toward Smith. They have no choice.

The best way to discourage that isn’t to scheme around the extra attention.

It’s to punish it.

McCuin has shown multiple times this season that he can do exactly that.

If Sayin continues developing trust in McCuin, Brandon Inniss, Nate Roberts and the rest of Ohio State’s receiving options, opponents are eventually left with an impossible decision.

Give Smith extra help and risk one-on-one matchups everywhere else.

Or play Ohio State straight and hope No. 4 doesn’t take over.

Neither is especially appealing.

DEFENSIVE RESPONSE: THIS LOOKED MUCH MORE LIKE OHIO STATE

The most encouraging part of Saturday might have happened on the other side of the football.

Illinois gained 462 yards against Ohio State last week, including 199 on the ground. The Buckeyes still won comfortably, but the performance created legitimate concerns about run fits, tackling and the defense’s ability to prevent sustained drives.

Iowa finished with 238 total yards.

That’s a significant response.

The Hawkeyes ran only 53 plays, averaged 4.5 yards per snap and managed just 51 rushing yards on 21 carries. Starting quarterback Hank Brown completed only 12 of 27 passes for 132 yards and an interception.

A week after Illinois found huge openings in Ohio State’s run defense, Iowa’s lead back Kamari Moulton managed only 27 yards on 11 carries.

That’s the number Matt Patricia and his staff will probably appreciate most.

Ohio State was more disciplined at the line of scrimmage, did a better job getting bodies to the football and rarely allowed Iowa to remain comfortably ahead of the chains.

The Hawkeyes’ offense isn’t Texas.

It also isn’t built to win 45-42.

But Iowa entered Saturday undefeated and had just gone into Michigan Stadium and won.

Ohio State didn’t allow the Hawkeyes to establish the style of game they wanted.

That’s meaningful.

TURNOVERS MATTER — AND OHIO STATE WON THAT BATTLE

There are few places where turnovers matter more than Kinnick Stadium.

Ohio State committed none.

Iowa committed two.

Brown threw an interception, and the Hawkeyes also lost a fumble. The Buckeyes, meanwhile, survived their only fumble without losing possession and allowed Sayin to play a clean game.

That difference matters even more than the raw turnover count.

Ohio State never gave Iowa the short field it desperately needed.

There was no interception that suddenly put the Hawkeyes 25 yards from the end zone. There was no special-teams disaster that allowed the crowd to take over. There was no sequence where Ohio State provided Iowa free momentum.

The Buckeyes made the Hawkeyes earn everything.

Iowa wasn’t good enough offensively to do it consistently.

TIME OF POSSESSION TELLS THE STORY

Ohio State held the football for 38:02.

Iowa possessed it for only 21:58.

That isn’t normally a statistic associated with an Ohio State offense known for explosive passing plays.

Saturday, though, it perfectly described how the Buckeyes controlled the game.

Ohio State ran 74 offensive plays compared with Iowa’s 53. The Buckeyes ran the football 47 times and continued grinding clock once they established the multi-score advantage.

That’s winning road football.

Explosive plays from Smith gave Ohio State separation.

The running game and defense prevented Iowa from creating the chaos it needed to come back.

It wasn’t always flashy.

It was effective.

WHAT STILL NEEDS WORK

There aren’t many major complaints after beating the No. 14 team in the country by 17 points on the road, but Ohio State didn’t play a completely clean game.

The biggest issue was penalties.

The Buckeyes were flagged nine times for 49 yards. The total yardage wasn’t disastrous, but nine penalties are too many, particularly for a team approaching a stretch of the schedule where small mistakes will become considerably more expensive.

Ohio State also settled for an early field goal after getting into scoring position rather than finishing the drive with seven points. Against Iowa, that didn’t matter.

Against Indiana, USC or Oregon, it might.

The offensive line continues to progress, but there were still stretches where Iowa’s defensive front prevented the Buckeyes from generating much push. Ohio State averaged only 3.4 yards per rushing attempt overall, although sacks and late-game clock situations affect that number.

The larger trend remains positive.

The Buckeyes don’t need perfection right now.

They need continued improvement.

Saturday provided plenty of it.

THE DIFFERENCE FROM TEXAS: OHIO STATE FINISHED

The Texas loss will probably remain part of the conversation surrounding this team until Ohio State gets another opportunity against a national championship contender.

But one thing has changed since Austin.

The Buckeyes are finishing games.

Ohio State led Iowa 17-6 at halftime.

Then it added seven in the third.

Then seven more in the fourth.

When Smith’s 57-yard touchdown pushed the advantage to 24-6, Ohio State did not retreat into an offense designed simply to protect the scoreboard. The Buckeyes continued running their offense, eventually putting together another touchdown drive finished by Ja’Kobi Jackson.

That’s what was missing against Texas.

There will be tougher fourth quarters ahead.

But finishing becomes a habit, just like failing to finish can become one.

Ohio State is beginning to build the better version.

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS: THIS ONE MATTERS

Unlike Ball State and Kent State, Saturday’s victory will actually have some weight when Ohio State’s postseason résumé is evaluated.

Iowa entered the afternoon 4-0 and ranked No. 14, with a road victory over Michigan already on its résumé. Ohio State went into Kinnick Stadium and beat the Hawkeyes by 17.

That’s a quality road win.

The Buckeyes are now 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten, with the only loss remaining the one-point defeat at Texas.

That résumé is beginning to look much healthier.

There is still an enormous amount of football ahead. Ohio State has road games at Indiana, USC and Nebraska and home dates with Oregon and Michigan still waiting.

But Ohio State no longer needs to spend much time worrying about what happened in Austin.

The answer is straightforward.

Keep winning.

If the Buckeyes continue collecting ranked conference victories and remain in the Big Ten championship race, the Texas loss becomes context rather than an obstacle.

Saturday was the first road Big Ten statement on that path.

THE BUCKEYE50 TAKEAWAY

There was something satisfying about the way Ohio State won this game.

It wasn’t a 60-point demolition against an opponent that never had a realistic chance.

It wasn’t Jeremiah Smith scoring four touchdowns before everyone settled into their seats.

This required patience.

Ohio State went into one of the strangest road environments in the Big Ten, against an undefeated ranked opponent with a defense designed to frustrate teams into mistakes, and refused to give Iowa the game it wanted.

The Buckeyes did not turn the football over.

They ran it 47 times.

They held Iowa under 240 yards.

They possessed the football for more than 38 minutes.

And when an explosive play was available, Smith reminded everyone why he’s rewriting virtually every Ohio State receiving record.

Maybe most importantly, Ohio State answered the biggest concern coming out of Illinois.

The run defense looked dramatically better.

Iowa managed only 51 yards on the ground after Illinois ran for 199 the week before. That doesn’t mean every defensive problem is solved, but good teams identify a weakness and correct it.

Ohio State did that Saturday.

Meanwhile, Sayin continues looking more comfortable. The running backs continue making progress. McCuin continues establishing himself as another legitimate threat.

And Smith?

Smith now owns Ohio State’s career records for receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.

We’re five games into his junior season.

That sentence sounds ridiculous.

Yet somehow, watching him play makes it feel almost inevitable.

Ohio State is now 4-1.

The Buckeyes are 2-0 in the Big Ten.

They have a ranked road victory on the résumé.

And for the first time since that fourth quarter in Austin, it feels like Ohio State isn’t simply recovering from the Texas loss anymore.

The Buckeyes are building something beyond it.

NEXT UP: MARYLAND COMES TO COLUMBUS

Ohio State returns to Ohio Stadium next Saturday to face Maryland, giving the Buckeyes an opportunity to continue building momentum before the schedule immediately becomes more difficult.

Kickoff is set for 4:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 10.

Maryland won’t carry the same atmosphere or ranking that Iowa brought Saturday, but Ohio State can’t afford to treat the game as an intermission. The Buckeyes travel to Indiana the following week for a matchup with the team that beat them in last season’s Big Ten Championship Game.

That’s waiting.

Maryland comes first.

The biggest thing Ohio State can do now is continue stacking complete performances. Keep developing the run game. Keep tightening the defense. Keep Sayin comfortable.

And apparently, keep updating the Jeremiah Smith section of the Ohio State record book.

Final: No. 5 Ohio State 31, No. 14 Iowa 14

Ohio State Record: 4-1 (2-0 Big Ten)

Julian Sayin: 20-of-27, 324 yards, 3 TD

Jeremiah Smith: 11 receptions, 206 yards, 2 TD

Next: Maryland at Ohio State — Saturday, October 10, 4:15 p.m. ET

Photo Credit: Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen