After opening its Big Ten slate with a 38-7 road thumping of Michigan State last week, the competition will ramp up a notch this week as the Iowa Hawkeyes (3-1) travel to Columbus.

As has long been the hallmark of its program, Iowa will present the toughest defensive test Ohio State has faced to date, and head coach Ryan Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly spoke with the media on Tuesday about what awaits the Buckeyes this weekend.

“This is a huge challenge. It’s a challenge for all of us,” Day said of Iowa. “They play physical. You guys know who they are; they have not changed their identity in a very long time. They have good coaches and physical players, and they’re a veteran team. We’re going to get challenged in a lot of areas…”

Iowa has yet to yield more than 21 points through its four games and ranks in the top 20 in the country in average yards per game, allowing just 273 yards per contest. In particular, the Iowa run defense presents the biggest headache for opposing coaches, having yet to allow a 100-yard rusher this season and having given up an average of just 62 yards per game on the ground.

Like any stout run defense, Iowa is as good as Ohio State will see up the middle this regular season. Linebacker Jay Higgins, a first-team All-American selection a year ago after turning in 171 tackles, leads the Hawkeyes. He is joined by a pair of defensive tackles in Aaron Graves and Yahya Black, who each weigh 300 lbs., that will make space hard for Ohio State’s immensely talented running back duo of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins hard to come by.

“It doesn’t matter what year you watch them,” Day said. “It’s the same guys inside, and they play with great technique and are well coached and understand how they fit into the defense. Their pad level is low, their hands are low, and they play physical. They run to the football.

“Coach (Phil) Parker does a great job in making sure they understand how they’re being attacked. Year after year, it’s similar in terms of the statistics and the production. They know what they’re recruiting, and they do a great job. It’s a real challenge for our offense this week, and we have to have a great week of practice.”

Parker is in his 13th season as the defensive coordinator at Iowa and won the Broyles Award last year as the nation’s top assistant coach. Under his leadership, Iowa’s defense hasn’t given up more than 400 yards in 28 games, the nation’s longest streak.

In 2022, the last time Iowa and Ohio State met, Parker’s defense limited the C.J. Stroud-led Buckeye offense to 360 yards despite being on the field for much of the game due to a putrid offensive performance from the Hawkeyes. That Ohio State offense went on to finish second in the country in total yardage at 490 yards per game, with the Iowa game marking its second-lowest offensive output of the season.

“They are really well coached,” Kelly said. “It’ll be the best-coached defense we face all season, and that’s the challenge of going against them. People have been going against them for a long time, and you can go back 10 years and look at what people have tried to do to them. But I think the test over time is that they don’t give up big plays. They make you earn everything that you get. There’s not going to be an easy one. It’s a challenge that you get excited if you’re a real football guy, going against somebody like Coach Parker.”

Kelly, a well-respected football mind in his own right, is looking forward to the matchup but isn’t going to get caught up in any talk of Saturday’s game being a chess match between coordinators. He noted that, regardless of who they’re playing, Ohio State’s goal is never to out-scheme the opposing coaching staff but rather to do what they feel puts the Buckeyes’ plethora of playmakers into position to make plays.

From there, and like nearly every football game is ultimately decided, the day will be won by who executes at a higher rate.

“You’re not going to out-scheme Phil Parker,” Kelly said. “I think people think a little bit too much into that part. This game has always been and always will be about the players and who can really show up in those matchups. This is as good a defense as we’ve faced, but there are going to be a lot of one-on-one battles. We have to win them. Their interior defensive linemen are outstanding, so that matchup with our center and guards against them and the All-American linebacker are huge matchups. And that comes down to fundamental football.”

He added of trying to out-scheme Parker, “If you’re thinking that, then he’s in your head. I don’t have enough space for anybody else in my head, so I’m just going to concentrate on what the next down is.”

Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on X @DillonDavis56.