Buckeye fan here with a few observations, not that my $.02 has any importance whatsoever.
-Iowa's defense is legit and frustrating to play against. They are rarely if ever out of position and if they happen to be out, it's only about a yard or so. Just so fundamentally sound. Your DC is worth every penny and deserves whatever salary the university can muster.
-OSU's offense was clearly frustrated and rattled throughout the entire first half. Some of that could have been rust but I think it's because they got punched right in the face and couldn't deal with it right away. Ryan Day preaches toughness but I have yet to see OSU truly exhibit real toughness. A tough team would have been able to score TD's with the running game instead of settling for FG's. Frankly, Iowa's D was tougher than OSU's offense.
-Giving up a ton of points is nothing to complain about. Stroud (when healthy, locked in, and with time to throw) is probably the most accurate passer I have ever seen at any level. Add the fact that Harrison is NFL ready right now and probably would be a top 10 NFL receiver if he were in the league, Egbuka will be a 1st round pick, and Fleming will also play on Sunday, so expecting to hold OSU under 30 points is a really tall task. Many of Stroud's completions and touchdowns were perfectly defended but the receivers act like they're in Cirque Du Soleil and make impossible grabs. Sometimes there really is nothing that can be done.
-Petras. Woof. I don't like to rag on kids living their dream but he is just not a DI quarterback. From what I could tell, the route trees are pretty basic and don't require a ton of sight adjustments. Granted, I was just watching the TV broadcast so I wasn't seeing the whole field, but he just isn't accurate enough. On the two interceptions it looked to me that he (Petras) was locked in on one guy and was going to throw that way regardless of what color jersey was in front of him.
-I don't think it's time yet for Ferentz to hang it up. Ferentz has been a pillar in the CFB community and brings instant respect to the Iowa program. A coach like that is rare and he has earned the right to 'retire' on his own terms. However, he really needs to bring in a different offensive coordinator. IMO, the Hawkeye's are hampered with Petras (nice kid but not a good QB at all) and Padilla. I can see what the offense is trying to do, but for that scheme to be effective it really needs to have a QB capable of checking to his 2nd and 3rd reads because the 1st one will frequently be bracketed. Then delivering the ball on time and on target. Honestly, even with better QB play I'm not sure the scheme would be capable of generating a ton of points.
-It has to be frustrating to see the defense pitch gems and have the offense incapable of scoring. In OSU's case it was the opposite the last two years. Great offense but the defense was a clown show. And that is an insult to clown shows everywhere. For Iowa, get the right OC, keep the current DC, and watch what happens. It doesn't take long to turn a program around with the portal. There are QB's out there who have to know they could start right away at Iowa.