Ohio State graduate safety Tanner McCalister (15) recorded two interceptions during No. 2 Ohio State’s (7-0) 54-10 win over Iowa (3-4) in Columbus on Saturday. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
The No. 2 Ohio State football team only managed to put up 360 total yards of offense against Iowa, but a stout performance from the Buckeyes’ defense and third-year quarterback C.J. Stroud’s four passing touchdowns led to a convincing 54-10 victory Saturday.
On the defensive side of the ball, graduate safety Tanner McCalister became the first Buckeye since former defensive back Jeff Okudah against Nebraska in 2019 to grab two interceptions in the same game. The Ohio State defense held Iowa to 2.7 yards per play and generated six turnovers, but McCalister said he thinks the Buckeyes haven’t reached their fullest potential.
“Coach (Jim) Knowles, he wants to have a top-five defense,” McCalister said. “That’s always our goal. So, we want to be the best in America. I know in the back end, that’s our slogan: ‘BIA: Best in America.’”
The Rockwall, Texas, native, transferred from Oklahoma State and brought with him an advanced understanding of new defensive coordinator Knowles’s defensive schemes. While the defense only accumulated one interception through the team’s first three games, over the last four, McCalister has intercepted opposing quarterbacks three times, while the team now sits at seven on the season.
Knowles said he’s proud of McCalister for not only challenging himself at Ohio State, but also putting in the work to get the rest of the players to buy into what he says.
“He’s always been a very heads up player,” Knowles said. “Always very coachable in terms of understanding the game plan and the team we’re about to face. I saw him really take off last year in terms of confidence, because it takes a lot of confidence to do some of the things he does. And then the fact he came here to show me he wanted to elevate his game even more.”
Despite the offense being held to a season-low of 5.8 yards per play, McCalister said the defense’s faith never wavered in the offense’s abilities to generate points. Along with the turnovers generated, he said the defense understood it was crucial to make stops in order for the Buckeyes to get rolling again.
“I feel like each week you can see guys are learning more about the defense,” McCalister said. “We see some of the struggles the offense is having, but there’s never any panic from us because we know what those guys can do on the other side.”
While Iowa ranked near the bottom of the Football Bowl Subdivision in total offense, Ohio State forced six turnovers for the first time since 2016 — including an interception returned for a touchdown by fourth-year linebacker Tommy Eichenberg.
Even though the defense is performing above the standards of previous seasons under head coach Ryan Day’s tenure, fourth-year defensive lineman Zach Harrison said the defense is not satisfied unless they do not concede points.
“Our goal is to shut down every offense,” Harrison said. “Regardless, Coach Knowles’s mentality is: ‘No, nobody scores on us.’ And that’s the mentality we’ve adopted.”
