By Danielle Daniels
Ryan Day OSU head coach Iowa Postgame News Conference #3 Ohio State 35 Iowa 7 Week 6 10 5 2024.mp3
COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 3 Ohio State (5-0, 2-0) scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the second half to take command in a 35-7 win over Iowa (3-2, 1-1) Saturday at Ohio Stadium.
Will Howard threw for 209 yards and four touchdowns while completing 21-of-25 passes. He also rushed for a score. Receiver Emeka Egbuka caught nine Howard offerings for 71 yards and three touchdowns. Freshman Jeremiah Smith had four catches for 89 yards and one score. TreVeyon Henderson carried 11 times for 61 yards while running mate Quinshon Judkins added 13 carries for 78 yards. Sonny Styles led with seven tackles and four tackles for loss to lead the defense.
The Buckeyes take to the road next Saturday to take on Oregon (5-0, 2-0) in Eugene. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. with NBC providing the national broadcast.
Postgame Quotes vs. Iowa
No. 3 Ohio State 35, Iowa 7
Oct. 5, 2024 – Ohio Stadium; Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 105,135
Ryan Day, Ohio State head coach
On the game…
“This gave us a lot of confidence moving forward. It was a big challenge to our entire team about
physicality and toughness and I thought we answered that. There is a team right there that feels like they got challenged and they answered that.”
On Iowa…
“We have a lot of respect for Iowa, Coach Ferentz and the way they do things. It’s a veteran team that’s played a lot of football and its not easy to rush for 200 yards against that defense. But also, some of the throws in the red zone I thought were pretty well done today because those are the types of throw you have to make against a really good defense.”
On Sonny Styles…
“The more Sonny plays, the more he’s able to learn and diagnose those plays and move faster. It’s good to see Sony getting more reps because every rep he gets is an investment in his future. He’ll play faster and faster the more he plays.”
On Emeka Egbuka…
“I think Emeka is one of the best receivers in the country. It hurt him last year to have the high ankle sprain, but when you think about where he was the year before and what he’s doing now, you see a complete player. He’s a captain of our team, he’s a warrior, he does all the dirty work like he did in the Michigan State game. But then to see him come back and have three touchdown passes. He’s a leader and a warrior and I think, again, one of the better receivers in the entire country and he’s only getting better the more he plays.”
On Jeremiah Smith…
“I think the first thing is overall maturity, his physical maturity. He’s big and strong as you see and so that’s important. The next thing is his emotional maturity. This is somebody who practices hard every day. He has avoided distractions up until this point. He stays disciplined, practices really hard. That fumble is going to bother him, and I think that’s what makes him great. He also has a lot of confidence, and we have a lot of confidence in him. We know what he’ capable of. He’s got a great coach in Brian Hartline and a great mentor in Emeka Egbuka. But he also came in with a great work ethic and a great mindset.”
Will Howard, Ohio State quarterback
On the offensive line dictating the pace of play …
“That was a huge emphasis coming into this game. We knew we needed to be physical and play downhill football. I think the O-line took that challenge. Those dudes are bad SOBs and they’re coming downhill and rocking people off the ball. I think they are playing really, really good football right now.”
On what was learned about this team from moments in big games like tonight…
“We said coming into this game we were going to learn a lot about this team and our toughness and our ability to block out the noise and go down and get to work. We knew we had a big one coming up next week, but we knew that this was a big one too.”
On the confidence going into the week leading up to the Oregon game…
“I think confidence-wise, we feel great. We continue to iron things out and get better every single week. I think we learned a lot about ourselves and about this team. I haven’t really looked at it yet. We knew that this Iowa team is going to be a good team. I looked at [Oregon] a little bit in the bye week and started checking out and seeing what they’re about. I’m excited and it’s going to be a good challenge.”
Jack Sawyer, Ohio State defensive end
On playing a physical team like Iowa…
“We knew they were going to be a good team coming in here; they’re going to run their stuff, and they’re a veteran group of guys. We love going against teams like that. They want to run the ball and challenge our manhood, so we were ready, and I thought we did a great job.”
On the emphasis on forcing fumbles…
“A big thing this offseason was disrupting the football; if you’re the first one to the ball, try to get a punch. Lathan’s (Ransom) the master at it; we see him do it almost every game it seems like. It’s definitely a point of emphasis for us.”
On the defense forcing three turnovers…
“When you’re playing like that and you’re creating turnovers, getting off the field with big plays like that, it sparks the offense, helps us and gets us fired up.”
On allowing the Hawkeyes to score late…
“I mean, it’s disappointing. Obviously, we would love to have another shutout, but I think that the guys that came in there late in the fourth quarter did a good job overall. It’s unfortunate to give up a touchdown, but it’s really good for those young guys to get in there and get some live game reps. I think that’s the only way to get better.”
Donovan Jackson, Ohio State left guard
On playing against Iowa’s defensive front…
“Iowa’s known for their stout defensive linemen and their great linebackers. They do a technique called two-gapping, where they stab you in the chest and they read off you, which frees up their linebackers, and that’s why they’ve been a great defense for so long. We knew coming in that this was going to be a great test. We knew that we had to be a tough unit overall, and Coach Frye, Coach Kelly, Coach Drevno and Coach Salleni gave us a great plan of how we can attack it and how we can take advantage of two-gapping, because it is a hard technique to get after. We knew that we had our hands full, but we were just glad to be able to execute when we could.”
On the run game…
“Running the ball is a badge of honor for an O-line. You want to run the ball. You want to get after it. You want to see your running backs running down the field, and that’s a sense of pride you have.”
On not overlooking the Hawkeyes…
“We didn’t look ahead because we knew Iowa was good. We knew to not dare look ahead; we didn’t dare overlook this team, because we knew that they got after a lot of people. I believe no one has had above 100 rushing yards on them all season, so we knew that was something we wanted to get in. We wanted to be able to establish the run and try to get after it.”
Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State wide receiver
On getting in the endzone three times…
“It was awesome. Shout out to Coach Kelly for calling the plays. We just try to execute whatever our coaches need, so it’s an 11-man effort. I couldn’t have gotten into the end zone if all the linemen weren’t blocking, the running backs doing their thing, other routes on the field taking away and opening up [Iowa’s] coverage and then obviously Will [Howard] putting it on the money. All 11 guys are working together and we’re just trying to have that camaraderie as we go on throughout the season.”
On the performance of the defense…
“Shout out to the defense – holding [Iowa] to zero for as long as they did. They played outstanding today.”
On the halftime adjustment…
“We were moving the ball pretty efficiently – it was just the turnovers that killed us. What you saw in the second half was the result of taking better care of the ball and not turning it over as much.”
On Jeremiah Smith’s bounce back…
“He’s harder on himself than anybody could possibly be. That’s just the kind of person he is. His mentality going into things – he doesn’t sulk or get down on himself. He’s frustrated, but then moves onto the next play and he’s able to make a big play like he did.”
Sonny Styles, Ohio State linebacker
On the confidence this win gave the team going into the Oregon game…
“This gives us a lot of confidence. We were already confident in ourselves, so this kind of just established it even more. We were just getting better.”
On proving how tough the team is…
“I think we showed some toughness today. I think guys are physical up front, on both sides of the ball, and obviously their offense had like 200 and some rushing yards. We held them under 100 so that’s always good. But like I said, you got to keep getting better every week. This game’s over. After today, this game’s over.”
On halftime and what leads to strong second half starts…
“I think guys just talking to each other, reminding each other, hey, middle eight, middle eight, middle eight. Like that’s we got to win, the middle eight. And I think that when you’re putting the emphasis on that, you kind of just come out with a little more extra juice knowing that the middle eight can determine the rest of the game.”
Kirk Ferentz, Iowa head coach
On the overall game…
“The bottom line is you have to play clean football against a team like this.”
On Ohio State’s players…
“You have to look at who you’re playing too, and its pretty obvious they have good and talented players at every position offensively but those receivers are as good as you’re going to see anywhere.”
On how Ohio State stacks up to previous ranked teams Iowa has played…
“They have veterans up front, the receivers are really good players and the freshman is as good as I’ve seen at that point. They can run the ball. They can throw it. They’ve got a good scheme – Coach Kelly does a great job and I know Ryan [Day] is involved in that too.”
On Ohio State’s play in the second half…
“This is probably the best team we’ve played this season thus far and they are an outstanding opponent.”
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