No. 5 Ohio State visits No. 14 Iowa on Saturday, Oct.
3, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. The Buckeyes are 3-1 this season, while the Hawkeyes are 4-0. Iowa is coming off a 20-19 win at Michigan, with Reece Vander Zee catching all five of his targets for 66 yards and two touchdowns.
Ohio State beat Illinois 42-19 last Saturday and is averaging 45.0 points and 365.3 passing yards per game. Iowa is averaging 32.8 points and 215.5 rushing yards per game. Ohio State is a 14.5-point favorite over Iowa, with a total of 45.5 and a moneyline of -685 for the Buckeyes and +469 for the Hawkeyes.
Below, we'll give you all the details you need to know about how to watch this game. How to Watch Ohio State vs. Iowa Players To Watch Ohio State's offense turned in its most explosive passing performance of the season last week, with Julian Sayin at the center of it.
He threw for a season-high 367 yards and four touchdowns on 27-of-36 passing against Illinois, adding 29 rushing yards and a score on the ground. This season he has 1,206 yards, 10 touchdowns and just one interception through four games. Iowa's defense enters off a road win at Michigan in which it forced a red-zone interception and got double-digit tackle games from three different players.
That kind of takeaway-minded unit is a step up from anything Sayin has faced so far this season. Iowa's coaching staff already has named its central defensive question for Saturday, and it starts with containing Jeremiah Smith. He set a new career high with 12 catches for 217 yards and four touchdowns against Illinois last week, tying Ohio State's single-game touchdown-reception record, and he'd already become the program's career receiving yards leader earlier this season.
Iowa is 4-0 and ranked 14th, but needed a touchdown with two seconds left to beat Michigan 20-19 last week. Smith gives Ohio State a scoring threat capable of deciding a game that tight. Hank Brown delivered the biggest throw of his season when it mattered most last week.
He was 21 of 35 for a season-high 227 yards and two touchdowns in Iowa's 20-19 win at Michigan, capped by a 16-yard touchdown pass to Reece Vander Zee with two seconds left. He has 700 yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions this season. Ohio State is averaging 45 points a game this season, a different level of firepower than anything Brown has had to match so far in 2026.
Iowa's front seven will have to slow one of the country's most explosive offenses Saturday, and Cam Buffington has been the one making plays up front to do it. He turned in a season-high 11 tackles in last week's 20-19 win over Michigan, anchoring an Iowa front that also picked off a pass in the red zone that day. Jeremiah Smith alone accounted for four touchdowns and 217 receiving yards in last week's win over Illinois, the kind of big-play receiving threat Iowa's front seven has not had to defend as often as it will now.
Ohio State vs. Iowa Odds Learn more about the Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Iowa Hawkeyes game on FOX Sports.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.
