IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Julian Sayin threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns, two to Jeremiah Smith, and No. 5 Ohio State beat No. 14 Iowa 31-14 on Saturday.
Sayin was 20-of-27 passing, and his favorite target was Smith, the nation's top receiver. Smith had 11 catches for 206 yards, becoming Ohio State's leader in receptions (207), receiving yards (3,381) and receiving touchdowns (36).
One of Smith's longest catches of the day was a 54-yarder in the second quarter in which Smith caught the ball in the middle of triple coverage.
"That was not a great read, but a ridiculous throw and an unbelievable catch," Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. "There's times where (Smith is) covered and (Sayin) still makes the throw. We make the throw and the catch, which just speaks to (Smith's) ability and Julian's trust with him."
Asked about Smith's catch in the middle of all that coverage, Sayin said, smiling, "Which one?"
"He's extremely talented," Sayin said about Smith. "But he's somebody who's a great worker, a hard worker."
It was Smith's second consecutive game of 200 or more receiving yards.
"I was surprised I had 200 yards," Smith said. "I didn't know I had that much."
Smith caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Sayin with 12 seconds left in the first half to give the Buckeyes (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) a 17-6 lead.
Sayin threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to Smith with 6:11 left in the third quarter. Smith struck a Heisman pose toward the Iowa fans in Kinnick Stadium's north end zone after the catch.
"You've got to keep the Heisman voters, or whoever it is, knowing that I'm the best player in the country," Smith said.
"This is somebody who is not selfish, but he's very, very competitive," Day said. "All he cares about is winning."
Sayin opened the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Devin McCuin on Ohio State's first possession for an early 7-0 lead.
Ja'Kobi Jackson closed the scoring for the Buckeyes with a 7-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
Iowa (4-1, 1-1) got its only points on two field goals and Braeden Jackson's fourth-quarter 2-yard touchdown run. The Hawkeyes were held to just 238 yards as Ohio State, which had 484 yards, had almost a 17-minute advantage in time of possession.
"If you're going to beat a team like that, you've got to play clean," said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. "If you want to give yourself a chance, you have to do that. But we came up short today."
Sayin and the Buckeyes slowly carved into Iowa's defense, then hit the big play late with the long touchdown pass to Smith. Since the 24-23 loss to Texas on Sept. 12, Ohio State has outscored its last three opponents 136-36.
The Hawkeyes, who were carrying momentum coming off last week's 20-19 win over Michigan, were too conservative early in this game. They answered Ohio State touchdowns with field goals and never made up the difference.
Hawkeyes QB Hank Brown left the game late in the fourth quarter with a "mild sprain," according to coach Kirk Ferentz, who added the team will know more Sunday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.