Ohio State defends the belt, 38–17, on the road at Iowa.
AP poll, week 5: Ohio State No. 1 at Iowa No. 13 · No. 1 that week: Iowa. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Ohio State came in 21 days into reign #260, which began with a win over Texas, with 2 defenses already behind it; this was its third defense. Ohio State went on to defend it 7 more times before Florida took it on January 9, 2007, 122 days after the reign began.
For Iowa this was its 10th shot at the belt; it had held the belt twice before.
It was the 3rd of 3 belt games between the two; going in, Ohio State led the belt series 2–0; all-time Ohio State leads 3–0. Every meeting →
Recap
Ohio State's defense forced three turnovers and controlled the line of scrimmage to defend the belt against Iowa in Iowa City. Troy Smith orchestrated a balanced attack, connecting with Anthony Gonzalez twice for touchdowns while Antonio Pittman dominated on the ground with 214 rushing yards and a score. Iowa's Drew Tate kept the Hawkeyes competitive early, leading scoring drives and connecting with receivers like Scott Chandler and Andy Brodell, but two interceptions in critical moments proved costly. Ohio State's defense made the key plays when it mattered most, including Brandon Mitchell's interception at the Iowa 30 in the second quarter that set up a touchdown and Marcus Freeman's fourth-quarter pick that ended Iowa's comeback hopes.
- Troy Smith to Anthony Gonzalez TD pass in Q1 set the tone for Ohio State's offensive dominance
- Brandon Mitchell's interception in Q2 at Iowa 30 led directly to Antonio Pittman's touchdown
- Marcus Freeman's interception with 6:25 left in Q4 at Iowa 14 sealed the belt defense
- Antonio Pittman's rushing performance and two touchdowns provided Ohio State's ground control advantage
Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.
Team stats
CFBD box scoreFull team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.
Key plays
CFBD play-by-play| When | Team | Yards | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 11:34 | Ohio State | +12 yd | Troy Smith pass complete to Anthony Gonzalez for 12 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 11:34 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD. |
| Q1 13:14 | Ohio State | +20 yd | Antonio Pittman rush for 20 yards to the Iowa 23 for a 1ST down. |
| Q1 9:43 | Iowa | +31 yd | Drew Tate pass complete to Herb Grigsby for 31 yards to the OSU 48 for a 1ST down. |
| Q1 5:19 | Iowa | +32 yd | Kyle Schlicher 32 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q1 3:23 | Iowa | +23 yd | Drew Tate pass complete to Dominique Douglas for 23 yards to the OSU 43 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 15:00 | Iowa | +12 yd | Drew Tate pass intercepted by Brandon Mitchell at the Iowa 42, returned for 12 yards to the Iowa 30. |
| Q2 13:46 | Ohio State | +23 yd | Antonio Pittman rush for 23 yards to the Iowa 4 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 13:41 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 13:41 | Ohio State | +4 yd | Antonio Pittman rush for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 11:36 | Iowa | +21 yd | Drew Tate pass complete to Scott Chandler for 21 yards to the OSU 15 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 11:10 | Iowa | +15 yd | Albert Young rush for 15 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 13:09 | Iowa | +21 yd | Damian Sims rush for 21 yards to the Iowa 41 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 11:10 | Iowa | +0 yd | Kyle Schlicher extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 2:19 | Ohio State | +6 yd | Troy Smith pass complete to Roy Hall for 6 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 2:19 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 9:35 | Ohio State | +30 yd | Troy Smith pass complete to Anthony Gonzalez for 30 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 9:35 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 8:32 | Iowa | +24 yd | Drew Tate pass complete to Scott Chandler for 24 yards to the Iowa 47 for a 1ST down. |
| Q4 14:51 | Ohio State | +36 yd | Aaron Pettrey 36 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q4 13:08 | Iowa | +4 yd | Drew Tate pass complete to Andy Brodell for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 14:26 | Iowa | +27 yd | Drew Tate pass complete to Andy Brodell for 27 yards to the OSU 34 for a 1ST down. |
| Q4 13:08 | Iowa | +0 yd | Kyle Schlicher extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 6:25 | Iowa | +5 yd | Drew Tate pass intercepted by Marcus Freeman at the Iowa 19, returned for 5 yards to the Iowa 14. |
| Q4 4:23 | Ohio State | +13 yd | Troy Smith pass complete to Brian Robiskie for 13 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 4:23 | Ohio State | +26 yd | Aaron Pettrey kickoff for 58 yards returned by Shonn Greene for 26 yards to the Iowa 33. |
| Q4 4:23 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 4:00 | Iowa | +10 yd | Drew Tate pass intercepted by James Laurinaitis at the Iowa 40, returned for 10 yards to the Iowa 30. |
Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).
Player stats
CFBD player statsPassing
Iowa
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drew Tate | 19/41 | 249 | 6.1 | 1 | 3 | 29.6 |
Ohio State
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troy Smith | 16/25 | 186 | 7.4 | 4 | 0 | 81.7 |
Rushing
Iowa
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drew Tate | 4 | 1 | 0.3 | 0 | 11 |
| Albert Young | 11 | 48 | 4.4 | 1 | 15 |
| Damian Sims | 5 | 38 | 7.6 | 0 | 21 |
Ohio State
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonio Pittman | 25 | 117 | 4.7 | 1 | 23 |
| Chris Wells | 14 | 78 | 5.6 | 0 | 19 |
| Troy Smith | 7 | 20 | 2.9 | 0 | 10 |
| Maurice Wells | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 3 |
| Anthony Gonzalez | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 | 0 |
Receiving
Iowa
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Chandler | 6 | 87 | 14.5 | 0 | 24 |
| Dominique Douglas | 4 | 63 | 15.8 | 0 | 23 |
| Andy Brodell | 4 | 51 | 12.8 | 1 | 27 |
| Herb Grigsby | 3 | 40 | 13.3 | 0 | 31 |
| Albert Young | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 6 |
| Champ Davis | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 2 |
Ohio State
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Gonzalez | 5 | 77 | 15.4 | 2 | 30 |
| Ted Ginn Jr. | 7 | 69 | 9.9 | 0 | 15 |
| Roy Hall | 2 | 22 | 11.0 | 1 | 16 |
| Brian Robiskie | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 1 | 12 |
| Chris Wells | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 6 |
Show more stats (4 more categories)
Interceptions
Iowa
No recorded stats in this category.
Ohio State
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Mitchell | 1 | 13 | 0 |
| James Laurinaitis | 1 | 11 | 0 |
| Marcus Freeman | 1 | 5 | 0 |
Kicking
Iowa
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Schlicher | 1/1 | 100.0 | 32 | 2/2 | 5 |
Ohio State
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Pettrey | 1/1 | 100.0 | 36 | 5/5 | 8 |
Punt Returns
Iowa
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Brodell | 3 | 2 | 0.7 | 2 | 0 |
Ohio State
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ted Ginn Jr. | 4 | 9 | 2.3 | 9 | 0 |
Punting
Iowa
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Fenstermaker | 5 | 167 | 33.4 | 0 | 0 | 44 |
Ohio State
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AJ Trapasso | 5 | 198 | 39.6 | 0 | 0 | 52 |
Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.
Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 262732294) · This game in the downloadable dataset