Iowa bombards No. 3 Ohio State 55-24
Nate Stanley threw for 226 yards and five touchdowns, and Iowa throttled third-ranked Ohio State 55-24 on Saturday, dealing what’s likely to be a fatal blow to the Buckeyes’ playoff hopes.
Josh Jackson added three interceptions for the Hawkeyes (6-3, 3-3), who beat their fourth top-5 opponent in their last five tries at home.
Iowa raced out to a 31-17 halftime lead on a pair of Stanley TD passes to Noah Fant.
Stanley, following a successful and highly unusual fake field goal, later fired a 2-yard TD pass with a defender hanging onto his foot that put the Hawkeyes ahead 38-17 late in the third quarter.
J.T. Barrett threw a career-high four interceptions for Ohio State (7-2, 5-1, No. 6 CFP), which allowed its most points in a game under coach Urban Meyer.
The Buckeyes committed nine penalties and gained just 371 yards in their most lopsided defeat since last year’s 31-0 loss to eventual national champion Clemson in the playoff.
THE TAKEAWAY
Ohio State: It’s almost impossible to see a path that takes the two-loss Buckeyes to the playoff after a loss like this. All Ohio State can do now is win out — and blow out an unbeaten Wisconsin in the league title game like in 2014 — and hope that enough chaos has broken out across the country that a two-loss team might get a look from the committee.