Former Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer isn’t expecting Iowa to hang with the Buckeyes by playing it safe. Ahead of Saturday’s game at Kinnick Stadium, he spelled out what the Hawkeyes need to do and what Ryan Day’s team can’t afford to allow.
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“If it’s all on Iowa’s offense, you can’t do against Ohio State what they’ve done other times,” Meyer said on his Triple Option podcast. “This can’t be a 10-point, one-touchdown game. Even against the Wolverines, one of the touchdowns was a kickoff return. Ohio State’s too good to do that. But if Iowa can move the ball, this would be a street fight.”
That’s a blunt read on an Iowa team that just beat Michigan 20-19 in Ann Arbor on Saturday, September 26. Meyer brought up that game himself, and his message was clear. A low-scoring grind with a special teams touchdown won’t be enough against the Buckeyes. He sees the matchup as strength against strength, with one question hanging over it.
“It’s going to be strength on strength: Ohio State’s offense against Iowa’s defense,” Meyer added. “How can Iowa move the ball where Ohio State’s defense has at times shown some vulnerability? If they can do this, it will be a very close game. If they can’t, I think it’s a two-score win for the Buckeyes.”
That vulnerability is the concerning part for Day. Ohio State is coming off a 42-19 win over Illinois, so the Buckeyes aren’t short on confidence heading to Iowa City on Saturday, October 3, 2026. But Meyer is looking at the defense, and he’s telling Day that one team moving the ball is all it takes to turn this into a fight.
Now at 3-1, the Buckeyes bounced back from a 24-23 loss at No. 1 Texas in mid-September with a 59-3 win over Kent State and a 42-19 Big Ten opener against Illinois. Quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith have powered the passing game, and Smith had a four-touchdown day against the Illini.
The defense has been strong too, holding opponents to 12.3 points per game. But that’s the side of the ball Meyer is watching, and Iowa averages over 215 rushing yards a game. There isn’t much middle ground in his read because even if Iowa can’t score, it’s a two-score win, and if Iowa can, it gets close.
Meyer knows Day better than most, as Day first joined the Ohio State staff as an offensive coordinator under Meyer, and it didn’t take long for him to take over once Meyer retired.
The ride since then hasn’t been smooth because Day, now 46, dealt with harsh criticism and incessant firing rumors before winning a national championship last season, which was also the program’s first in a decade.
Day’s record now stands at 85-13, the best active winning percentage in the country, and his players love him, as he’s done a tremendous job on the recruiting trail as well.
Meyer has spoken before about how heavy the pressure gets in that job. In August 2025, Meyer told Cameron Teague Robinson of The Athletic about a line he once heard from Mack Brown.
“Mack Brown once said to me, ‘I have good news and bad news. Good news is you won a national championship. Bad news is you won a national championship,'” Meyer said. “Now everything is, ‘Why didn’t you win it this year?'” He also said the standard in Columbus has been climbing for a while.
“Ohio State has extremely high expectations, and it’s kind of changed even since Jim Tressel took over,” Meyer added. “It’s been not just high expectations, but almost unfair expectations, but in turn they give you the most incredible support that exists.”
That’s what makes Saturday tricky for Day. A comfortable win barely registers with a fan base that expects a title every year, and a close one at Kinnick, with Iowa moving the ball against a defense that has at times shown some vulnerability, is exactly the street fight Meyer is describing.