No. 8 Ohio State Tops No. 9 Iowa, 19-10

Michael Jenkins returned a punt for a touchdown and Donte Whitner fell on a blocked punt in the end zone as No. 8 Ohio State beat No. 9 Iowa 19-10 on Saturday.

The Buckeyes were coming off their first loss in 20 games, a 17-10 defeat in the rain at Wisconsin last week.

Ohio State’s offense – with every starter from last year’s national championship team back except for suspended tailback Maurice Clarett – had one of its worst days ever.

The Buckeyes (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) had 185 yards of total offense, rushing for 56 yards on 42 attempts. Ohio State came into the game ranked 109th in total offense of the 117 Division I-A teams.

Trailing 17-10, Iowa (5-2, 1-2) blew its final chance to pull even when center Eric Rothwell snapped the ball over quarterback Nathan Chandler’s head and through the end zone for a safety with 3:03 left.

The Buckeyes led 10-3 at the half on Jenkins’ 54-yard punt return for a touchdown.

After Ohio State forced the Hawkeyes to punt on their second possession, Jenkins pulled in the kick at his own 46 and dodged a near tackle by Bob Sanders almost immediately. Jenkins cut through the right side, avoiding diving tackles by Mike Klinkenborg and Grant Steen for a score on only the second return of his career.

Ohio State’s unproductive offense wasted a chance to extend the lead.

Craig Krenzel tossed a 34-yard pass to Drew Carter just inside the sideline at the Iowa 1 late in the half. With the ball barely 2 feet from the goal line, Krenzel kept on first down and lost a yard. He then tried to dive over the line on another keeper but was met by Iowa’s Abdul Hodge as he stretched the ball out over his linemen. The ball popped loose and Iowa’s Sean Considine covered the ball on the 1 to end the threat.

The Buckeyes’ running backs did not carry the ball in the first period and had 7 net yards on seven attempts in the opening half. By the finish, no Ohio State back rushed for more than 20 yards, and Krenzel completed 11 of 22 passes for 129 yards.

Iowa was equally inept on offense, with Chandler twice fumbling snaps from center on critical plays – once to give away the ball on first down at the Ohio State 28 early in the third quarter.

On fourth and 10 from the Iowa 13 with 7:54 left in the quarter, David Bradley dropped back to punt. Ohio State’s Roy Hall sprinted untouched up the middle of the field and ran into Bradley, the ball squirting into the end zone where Whitner fell on it for the touchdown at the 7:54 mark.

That made it 17-3 and with the Hawkeyes continually dropping passes and center snaps or losing big yardage on sweeps, it seemed unlikely they could make up the deficit. However, just like Ohio State, they needed something other than conventional offense to finally find the end zone.

A 51-yard pass from Chandler to Ramon Ochoa helped set up a first down at the Ohio State 4 but Chandler and Fred Russell muffed a handoff that ended up losing 15 yards. On fourth and goal from the 5, the Hawkeyes lined up for a Nate Kaeding field goal. But holder Bradley took the snap and pitched to Kaeding who skirted right end untouched for the touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter.

Iowa, which totaled 219 yards of offense, failed to advance past its own 34 on its next series before the bad snap all but doomed the Hawkeyes to their eighth consecutive loss to Ohio State.

Russell gained 42 yards on 22 carries for Iowa, while Chandler completed 14 of 27 passes for 153 yards with one interception.