OSU is 'O for October' after 33-7 fall to Iowa

Ohio State lost its third straight game after winning its first three outings.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Ohio State's offense found a several new ways to define "O for October" Saturday at the University of Iowa's Kinnick Stadium.
Badly outplayed by Iowa on the ground and in the air, only a touchdown in the final 150 seconds prevented the Buckeyes' from suffering their worst shutout in 57 years.
Instead, the Buckeyes are limping home after Hawkeyes sophomore quarterback Drew Tate passed for 331 yards and three touchdowns in Iowa's 33-7 victory that dropped the Ohio State (3-3) to 0-3 in the Big Ten Conference.
"This is definitely shocking because we've had such great success over the past three seasons," senior fullback Brandon Joe said of the three-game losing streak, the first under coach Jim Tressel.
Except for a late scoring drive engineered by backup quarterback Troy Smith, the Buckeyes were stymied on offense by the swarming, inspired Hawkeyes.
"I don't if I would say [they dominated], but they kicked our butts," Tressel said. "We're not protecting [the football] as well as we should and we're not knocking 'em off the ball.
"They're solid on defense," Tressel said after the Buckeyes' worst loss in his 45 games. "We didn't do anything to really put pressure on them."
Turnovers spur rout
Starting quarterback Justin Zwick's interception late in the second quarter and his fumble on the second offensive play of the second half helped turn a 10-0 Iowa lead into a rout.
"The defensive team has aspirations to be considered a top team," said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz after his squad defeated Ohio State for the first time since 1991 and only the fourth time in 42 years. "Today we started to prove that."
In the first quarter, the Hawkeyes out-gained the Buckeyes 151 to 13 and went ahead 7-0 on Tate's 11-yard pass to Clinton Solomon.
The yardage disadvantage grew to 204-24 before Zwick got the Buckeyes in gear.
But on third-and-8 from the Iowa 13, Zwick threw an ill-advised pass into double coverage in the end zone. Free safety Marcus Paschal made the pick-off in front of wide receiver Bam Childress.
"He made a poor choice of where to go with the ball," Tressel said.
Zwick said he "didn't get the cornerback to bite on the under route and he got me."
Zwick hurts shoulder
Zwick started the third quarter despite suffering a shoulder injury in the first half. Five plays after his fumble at the Ohio State 30, Tate hit tight end Scott Chandler with a screen toss and the 6-foot-7 receiver extended his arms to dive into the end zone.
Tressel yanked Zwick in favor of Smith and the first two series were three-and-outs.
Iowa sealed the game when Solomon raced unguarded after cornerback E.J. Underwood turned the wrong way and Tate hit him for a 36-yard touchdown and 24-0 lead.
After three quarters, the Hawkeyes had out-gained the Buckeyes, 378-84.
Tressel was cryptic about next week's starting quarterback against Indiana (2-4, 0-3) at Ohio Stadium, saying it depends on whether Zwick's injury allows him to practice and who fares better in preparations.
Zwick said he didn't know his exact shoulder injury diagnosis, but said, "It hurts."
Out-rushed
"This is embarrassing," tight end Ryan Hamby said. "I looked [at the scoreboard] and saw they were significantly out-rushing us. You have to be able to run the ball in the Big Ten, no questions asked."
The Hawkeyes defenders limited the Buckeyes to 49 yards on 29 carries, compared to 138 yards on 37 carries for Iowa.
Hamby found hope after the Buckeyes left the field to chants of "Motor City Bowl," saying Smith entered "in a bad situation, but I thought he played well. He drove us a little bit.
"It's not on the quarterback," Hamby said. "We just have to get better as a team."
Ohio St.0007--7
Iowa73149--33
First quarter
Iow--Solomon 11 pass from Tate (Schlicher kick), 3:14.
Second quarter
Iow--FG Schlicher 45, 12:50.
Third quarter
Iow--Chandler 8 pass from Tate (Schlicher kick), 12:25.
Iow--Solomon 36 pass from Tate (Schlicher kick), 8:28.
Fourth quarter
Iow--Tate 1 run (kick failed), 14:53.
Iow--FG Schlicher 41, 9:28.
OSU--Nicol 23 pass from Smith (Nugent kick), 2:19.
A--70,397.
OSUIow
First downs1224
Rushes-yards29-2737-117
Passing150331
Comp-Att-Int14-26-126-39-0
Return Yards1322
Punts-Avg.8-44.24-38.5
Fumbles-Lost3-21-1
Penalties-Yards3-247-73
Time of Possession26:0233:58
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Ohio St., Pittman 7-16, Smith 6-7, Zwick 3-4, Joe 2-2, Ross 10-0, team 1-(minus 2). Iowa, Brownlee 10-35, Sims 9-31, Tate 9-24, Simmons 4-20, Strube 1-3, Busch 2-2, Mickens 2-2.
PASSING--Ohio St., Zwick 6-14-1-74, Smith 8-12-0-76. Iowa, Tate 26-39-0-331.
RECEIVING--Ohio St. Holmes 4-56, Hamby 4-39, Pittman 2-(minus 6), Nicol 1-23, Ginn 1-19, Hall 1-10, Gonzalez 1-9. Iowa, Solomon 7-131, Hinkel 6-76, Holloway 5-64, Chandler 2-14, Mickens 2-14, Townsend 1-14, Brownlee 1-10, Davis 1-5, Simmons 1-3.
williams@vindy.com