Expert Ohio State football predictions for Iowa game

Staff reports
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The Ohio State Buckeyes, ranked No. 2 in the country and 6-0 on the season, face the top defense in the country this week in Iowa (3-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten).

Good thing Ohio State has the top offense in the nation, as the Buckeyes look to stay perfect in Big Ten play and move to 4-0 in conference.

Iowa has held five of its opponents to 10 or fewer points this season while Ohio State has scored at least 45 points in five straight games, and have scored 49 our more points in the past four.

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The Buckeyes are 29.5 point favorites Saturday as they host the Hawkeyes in the Fox Big Noon Kickoff game. So we know who the friends in the desert are picking.

Here's how The Columbus Dispatch Ohio State reporters and columnists as well as Kennington Smith of The Des Moines Register picked the game:

Bill Rabinowitz

Columbus Dispatch Ohio State football beat reporter Bill Rabinowitz photographed April 29, 2021 in the Columbus Dispatch newsroom.
Columbus Dispatch Ohio State football beat reporter Bill Rabinowitz photographed April 29, 2021 in the Columbus Dispatch newsroom.

Ohio State beat writer

The Columbus Dispatch

  • Ohio State 41, Iowa 3

Iowa's defense is good enough to frustrate the Buckeyes for a while, but its offense is, well, not. Iowa's offense has scored only seven touchdowns in six games. That's practically a half's worth of work for the Buckeyes' offense when it's humming. Unless the Hawkeyes can get turnovers, there's little chance they can hang with Ohio State for long. The Buckeyes will have to be patient on offense and not force things. If they do, they'll win comfortably.

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Joey Kaufman

Columbus Dispatch Ohio State football beat reporter Joey Kaufman photographed April 29, 2021 in the Columbus Dispatch newsroom.
Columbus Dispatch Ohio State football beat reporter Joey Kaufman photographed April 29, 2021 in the Columbus Dispatch newsroom.

Ohio State beat writer

The Columbus Dispatch

  • Ohio State 38, Iowa 10

The Hawkeyes, featuring one of the nation’s lowest scoring offenses, aren’t a team equipped to pull off another upset like in 2017. They can’t trade shots with the Buckeyes’ fast-paced offense. But they could make for a lower-scoring game thanks to a defense that limits explosive plays and bottles up offenses in the red zone. Only four FBS teams have allowed fewer touchdowns inside the 20-yard line. There’s a chance Iowa will be only the second team this season to keep Ohio State’s offense under 40 points, but it might need something closer to a shutout to prevail in Columbus for the first time in three decades.

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Rob Oller

Columbus Dispatch sports columnist Rob Oller photographed Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021.
Columbus Dispatch sports columnist Rob Oller photographed Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021.

Sports columnist

The Columbus Dispatch

  • Ohio State 43, Iowa 3

Color me suspicious of Iowa's so-called dominant defense. With the exception of Michigan, which scored 27 points against them, the Hawkeyes have not faced an offense that would put a scare into a 5-year-old trick-or-treater. Defending a truly potent offensive attack like Ohio State's will prove much more difficult than putting the brakes on the likes of Nevada and Rutgers. Then there is Iowa's offense, which will be lucky to sniff the end zone. I'm giving the Hawkeyes a field goal, but a goose egg is a definite possibility. The Buckeyes may take a minute to get going, but this one is over by halftime.

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Colin Gay

Real-time reporter

The Columbus Dispatch

  • Ohio State 38, Iowa 10

Can Ohio State's No. 1 scoring offense score against Iowa's No. 3 scoring defense and one of two defenses in the country that allow less than four yards per play? Michigan did, scoring three touchdowns with 327 yards of total offense against the Hawkeyes, averaging nearly five yards each time the offense touched the ball. Expect more damage to be done from Heisman favorite C.J. Stroud, and even more so if the pieces around him are fully healthy. But even if the Buckeyes are slowed down offensively a bit, their defense shouldn't have any trouble with an offense that has scored nine touchdowns in six games.

Kennington Smith
Kennington Smith

Kennington Smith

Iowa beat writer

The Des Moines Register

  • Ohio State 34, Iowa 7

Iowa’s defense is good enough to hold Ohio State under its usual metrics, but the Hawkeyes offense will struggle mightily. Ohio State’s offense will be on the field a lot, and that will spell for a dominant win.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football predictions vs. Iowa