College football: Iowa stuns No. 3 Ohio State.
IOWA CITY, Iowa — 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 Big Ten), who beat their fourth top-five opponent in their past five tries at home.
“They were baiting him ... that’s their coverage,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said of quarterback J.T. Barrett, who threw a career-high four picks. “We just didn’t play very well.”
Iowa went up 7-0 on the game’s first play — a pick-six of Barrett — and raced out to a 31-17 halftime lead on two Stanley touchdown passes to Noah Fant.
Stanley, following a successful fake field goal, 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.
“We just tried to go out and play with confidence,” Jackson said.
Ohio State (7-2, 5-1) allowed its most points in a game under Meyer. Defensive end Nick Bosa was also ejected for targeting in the first half.
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 blowout loss caught Meyer by surprise.
“I didn’t see any signs. Usually I see signs and if I do I address them,” Meyer said.
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 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.
As for Iowa, the outcome had to shock even its most die-hard fans. The Hawkeyes had scored just 27 points in their previous two games against Northwestern and Minnesota. But weird things happen in Kinnick Stadium in November — and Iowa changed the narrative of its entire season with its victory.