Stunned Ohio State tries to move forward

Ohio States tries to pick up the pieces after following up a signature win against Penn State with a blowout loss at Iowa. Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer admits his squad “didn’t play very well.”

COLUMBUS » Two days after Ohio State’s stunning beat-down by unranked Iowa, Coach Urban Meyer still didn’t have much to say publicly about how and why it happened. It’s possible he doesn’t have the answers.

Ohio State was outcoached, out-schemed and outplayed at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday as the then-No. 3 Buckeyes watched their national championship hopes dissipate amid a chaotic storm of turnovers, penalties and panic. The 55-24 loss was the worst for an Ohio State team since the 41-14 rout by Florida (led by Meyer) in the 2007 BCS national championship game.

Saturday’s loss came a week after an exhilarating 39-38 win over Penn State put the Buckeyes back in the hunt for the College Football Playoff and thrust quarterback J.T. Barrett into the Heisman Trophy conversation. All that came crashing down in Iowa City.

At his news conference on Monday, Meyer shrugged off questions about play calling, player discipline and other weak links.

“I think Iowa played well, and we didn’t play very well,” he said, noting that everything is being evaluated.

“The question you have to ask is why. Not so much how, but why did it happen?” he said. “Are we not practicing (efficiently)? Do we have the right people playing? All those types of things.”

Barrett followed up what was perhaps his most heroic collegiate game against Penn State with one of his worst. He was 18 for 34 for 208 yards and threw three touchdown passes but was intercepted four times — including a pick-six by Iowa safety Amani Hooker on the first play from scrimmage.

Barrett didn’t talk to reporters after the game, and Meyer said Monday he hadn’t talked to his quarterback about everything that went wrong.

“He’s been on a nice roll with efficiency, taking care of the football,” Meyer said. “That was not normal by him, so we are watching it closely. I felt like he forced it, especially right before the half.”