OhioStateVOCFB postgame notes from Garrison Gaddy’s Sunday show after No. 5 Ohio State’s 31-14 win at No. 14 Iowa (Oct. 3, Kinnick). Denzel was out sick. Caller Rob joined late. The through-line is Jeremiah Smith’s Ohio State receiving triple crown. Final: Ohio State 31, Iowa 14. Buckeyes 4-1, 2-0 Big Ten. Iowa 4-1, 1-1. Garrison’s pregame lean was 33-13. Box (corrected names): Julian Sayin 20-of-27, 324 yards, 3 TD. Jeremiah Smith 11 rec, 206 yards, 18.7 YPC, 2 TD, long 57. Career after the game: 207 receptions, 3,381 yards, 36 TD — program leader in all three. Ja’Kobi Jackson and Bo Jackson both over 70 rush yards (show: Ja’Kobi 5.1 YPC, Bo 4.4). Iowa QB Hank Brown 12-of-27, 132 yards, 4.9 YPA, 1 INT. Iowa’s only TD was late, with almost no time left. OSU 484 yards, Iowa 238. Segment 1 — Open and defense (0:32–11:17) Iowa is not the offensive bar, but they entered averaging 400-plus yards. Garrison still did not expect more than 13–14 points. Michigan had already slowed them. Early soft zone (corners 6–9 yards off) drew fan heat on X. Kenyatta Jackson Jr. said they shifted to more man and more pressure, and it worked. Kenyatta strip-sack/fumble, recovered by Christian Allegro, set up the first-drive TD. Front seven wrapped up. Run-game tackling, a weekly issue since Texas, was cleaner. Riley Pettijohn solid. T.J. Alford one of his better games. John Walker III forced the overthrow that became an INT (McClain). Garrison does not want Walker and Jason Moore off the field at the same time at DT/nose. Chat disagreement with Aaron on corner technique. Garrison: Devin Sanchez is getting ticky-tack flags; Jermaine Mathews has been good; Timmons sat this week. He wants Matt Patricia to let them press and be handsy at the line instead of giving cushion. Takeaways: two forced turnovers in this game. Eight forced this season vs. 15 all of last year. Ball-hawks (Earl Little Jr., Kenyatta) should push that higher if interior pressure keeps coming. Patricia called a good game. More edge pressure and blitzes would be nice, but that is not his base. Defense is better week to week since the Texas fourth-quarter collapse and is not getting gassed the same way. Clip: 1:34–4:13 — “Defense played spectacular” through the strip-sack and why Iowa is not the bar. Clip: 5:11–6:31 — Sanchez flags vs. physical corners, Mathews, Walker INT. Clip: 8:20–9:34 — 8 turnovers already vs. 15 all of last year. Segment 2 — Triple Crown Jeremiah Smith (11:17–16:12) Garrison: best Ohio State player since Orlando Pace. On the banks of the Olentangy, 11-206-2 and a 57-yard score. Year-3 question is answered. Unstoppable because of feel, not just size. Illinois example: split-second head turn to see the hitter, then catch and brace. TD yesterday put him at 3,381 yards, 36 TD, 207 catches. On pace to clear 1,000 this season next week at Maryland. Ohio State greats (Cris Carter, JSN, Marvin Harrison Jr., Joey Galloway) on a prepared video. Carter called him the best ever in Columbus. Surpassed the high-school hype — LeBron comparison. Garrison’s framing: outside faith, family, and country, nothing he loves more than Ohio State football. Do not take a one-of-one for granted, fan or not. Pace and Smith are the two names. Archie and Eddie have hardware; Smith may not get a Heisman, but the tape is the tape. Clip: 11:27–12:26 — “Best player since Orlando Pace” plus the 11-206-2 line. Clip: 12:27–13:24 — Year 3, Illinois awareness, record totals. Clip: 14:54–16:10 — “Witnessing greatness… you are LeBron James. You surpassed the hype.” Segment 3 — Sayin, backs, Arthur Smith (16:12–22:31) Sayin 20-27, 324, 3 TD. Fourth nationally in passing yards, 13 TD, 1 INT on the season. Heisman-weekend path is open. Rushing jump is the tell. Sack-adjusted: 28 rush yards on 4–5 carries vs. Iowa; about 29 the week before. Last year: 68 rush yards in 14 games. Through five games he already has 66. Still takes some sacks, but he is leaving the pocket when it collapses. Both backs answered the “break tackles / move the chains” question. Not a wildcat fan, but Bo’s second one worked. Isaiah West 7 touches, 21 yards, missed people. Devin McCuin (show: McEwen) had a TD catch and 80 yards. Brandon Inniss sure-handed and getting mauled without flags. Nate Roberts a 9-yard catch, second straight week he answered when called. Pace of play: 135th of 136 last year, 79th this year. Arthur Smith is a clear upgrade on last year’s play-calling. Run game and the line are coming with it. Right tackle still false-starting (three in two games). Jeremiah usage is intentional, same idea as 2022 JSN (about a third of throws schemed for the star). Do not complain about getting him the ball. Covered the spread again. Covered Texas at -1.5 too. Clip: 16:15–18:02 — Sayin’s line and the rushing-yard jump vs. all of 2025. Clip: 19:56–21:16 — Pace ranking and the Arthur Smith defense. Segment 4 — Caller Rob: Smith, Pierce, snaps (22:31–41:20) Rob opens with the banned-coach line (“Never lie. Never cheat. Never steal.”) and says yesterday could not have happened to a better program — then pivots to Smith. Smith is ahead of DeVonta Smith’s Heisman-year pace at the same point, on fewer catches, with far more yards and TDs. Path to the first Buckeye Heisman since Troy Smith in 2006. Garrison: those Ohio State receiving marks will not be broken, same as LeBron’s scoring title. Same “take it in” point he made about Caleb Downs. Peyton Pierce: fine rotational piece, not a starter. Looks lost processing. Got bodied by a back on a QB run for a first down; failed to pick up a crosser vs. Illinois and ran into his own man. Rob wants Pettijohn and Alford as the Reese/Styles types, Allegro in the mix. Garrison: top three are Pettijohn, Allegro, and Alford; Pierce and Pettijohn are sharing a spot. Pierce is physical by reputation and it is not clicking. Long season — they will need him. Young WRs: Brock Boyd physical and a blocker; Rob wants more Chris Henry Jr. Garrison does not buy Caden Dixon as the better prospect. Dixon is WR1 at USC because they needed a freshman. Henry’s ceiling is higher; Boyd may be the more complete route-runner right now. With Smith on the field, a third (or two-thirds) of the throws are not going to the freshmen. Snap-count argument: Texas, defense was on the field for 61 second-half snaps (41 in the fourth). Illinois, 15 per quarter in the first half, then 30 in the third. Offense eventually moved it, but the defense was tired. Rob: Day cannot copy last year’s “get to 20–23 and call it” script. This defense is not that defense. Need about 34 points a game. Garrison: expected a top-15 to top-20 unit with 51 new players; still a high ceiling. Top 10 in points allowed. Yards are fine if points stay down. Bo Jackson discourse: Garrison plays a clip of Bo running hard and making people miss. Longest run of the year is vs. Ball State; so is Ja’Kobi’s. RB1 talk and Legend Bey talk are noise. Expectations are chain-moving, not home-run backs. Rob: run game was the best of the year, better than Texas, Ball State, and Illinois. Red zone is still the problem — three of four first-half red-zone trips, only 10 points. Ja’Kobi is the power back they need; Bo is the better all-around and perimeter/swing piece and can bounce it (did it vs. Texas). Garrison agrees on roles. Preseason bet was both top backs at 5.3 and 6.2 YPC by Week 5; they are in that neighborhood. Clip: 23:18–24:44 — Smith vs. DeVonta’s Heisman pace, “never being broken.” Clip: 25:33–27:10 — Pierce is a rotation player, not a starter. Clip: 32:52–34:36 — Defensive snap counts, Texas vs. Illinois, cannot live on 20 points. Segment 5 — Michigan, USC, close (41:20–55:28) Michigan is the second-worst scoring offense in the Big Ten, ahead of only Michigan State. Bryce Underwood’s UTEP game was empty calories. Iowa’s defense is not the old Iowa defense. Minnesota was the tell. Garrison had flagged the four-game stretch all summer: at Iowa, Minnesota, bye, Penn State, Indiana. Wolverine fans called him crazy and dared him to pick Minnesota. He still leaned Michigan but said it was not the cupcake they thought. Sam (College Football with Sam) and Isaiah Hull picked Minnesota in the offseason; Hull flipped before kickoff. Coaching problem: Big 12 / Pac-12 “physical” does not travel to the Big Ten. OC is catching blame for a quarterback who cannot push the ball. No run game because nobody respects the passer — staff included. Marshall and Haynes are not better than Bo or Ja’Kobi. Rob: Underwood got by as the best athlete in Michigan high school football and did not have to win with his arm. Fourth-and-5 vs. Minnesota he threw it into the stands with a tight end wide open over the middle. Also missed Andrew Marsh and threw a pick. Garrison: NIL money means you cannot coach him. Captain as a sophomore is not an excuse — Day’s first year had a true sophomore QB with no college starts, a mediocre run game that became a 2,000-yard back plus an 800-yard complement, and he flipped the worst defense in school history into No. 1 the next year. USC on the road does not scare Garrison. Defense is soft. Offense is real and will be the best OSU has seen since Texas. He trusts OSU to get a stop before he trusts USC. Lincoln Riley as an OC propped up by NIL. No culture. Lanning line: win games at Oregon, Chris Brown concerts at USC. Rob’s close: keep the second-half Iowa offense. National title is still a “we’ll see.” Patricia has to manufacture pressure; this front is not full of natural rushers. Kenyatta is not a Ben-type. Oregon, USC, Indiana, and a Miami-type playoff offense will test that. Next: Maryland, another possible 200-yard Smith game and the 1,000-yard season mark. Then at Indiana, th
