Buckeye Rosters

Recap

Iowa City, IA — In a showdown matching a pair of 3-0 Big Ten teams, the Buckeyes made the 19th-ranked Hawkeyes their seventh victim of the year.

The Hawkeyes jumped off to a 3-0 lead, but then watched in pre-Halloween shock as the Buckeyes intercepted four passes, blocked a punt for a touchdown and fielded a loose kickoff on the way to a 31-6 halftime lead.

OSU upped that lead to 38-6 at the start of the second half, with Pepe Pearson scoring on a four-yard run that followed an Iowa fumble on the Hawkeyes’ first play from scrimmage.

Iowa tried to make a game of it late, scoring 20 unanswered points and narrowing the lead to 12 with 10:46 to play. But the OSU defense, magnificent all day, shut the Hawkeyes down the rest of the way.

Safeties Damon Moore and Rob Kelly sparked the OSU defense. Moore tied a school record with three interceptions. He also had nine tackles and three passes broken up. Kelly blocked a punt in the first quarter that was recovered in the end zone by Kevin Griffin, giving the Buckeyes a 10-3 lead.

Following Kelly’s momentum turning play. OSU scored three quick touchdowns to take a commanding 31-3 lead with 8:07 to play in the half.

Joe Montgomery came off the bench to rush for a career-high 160 yards on 15 carries, including runs of 50 and 23 yards. OSU rushed for 252 yards while Iowa, the third ranked team to fall to the Buckeyes, finished with just 104.