Iowa football captain keeps things in perspective after Ohio State loss

Things didn’t go Iowa’s way on Saturday afternoon.

There was a lot of pregame hype and excitement around the Hawkeyes‘ top-15 clash with Ohio State at Kinnick Stadium. That excitement quickly dissipated as the Buckeyes took control of the game early and never looked back, winning, 31-14. Iowa never led in the game and looked outmatched throughout most of the afternoon.

It was a disappointing result for the home team. The vibes were high entering the game following the Michigan victory. Now there are a lot more questions for Kirk Ferentz’s team to answer. It starts on Friday with a road game against Washington.

One Iowa football captain is very of that sentiment and had some wise words for his teammates after the game.

“Walking into the locker room, I just told everyone to keep their head up,” fifth-year linebacker Jayden Montgomery said afterwards. “This is one game. It doesn’t define us. And then I also mentioned that we’ve got a short week, so it’s going to require a lot of effort, a lot of buy-in. More buy-in than a normal week. And we’re going to have to come out ready to go. We can’t sit and harp on this all week. Because we’ve got another game. And then over the bye week, we’ll look back. But we’ve got to learn from this, turn the page, and then be ready to go next week.”

Asked Iowa linebacker Jayden Montgomery what his message would be to the team. His reply:

“Walking into the locker room, I just told everyone to keep their head up. This is one game; it doesn’t define us. And then I also mentioned that we’ve got a short week, so it’s going to…

— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) October 4, 2026

It’s a good and necessary reminder from the veteran linebacker that the season isn’t over. While it stung in the moment, it was ultimately just one game. Iowa has everything left to play for this season, and Montgomery is going to ensure his teammates understand that. The Hawkeyes have a great opportunity to get back on the saddle this week.

Despite the loss, Montgomery had a strong performance himself. He finished with a team-leading 11 total tackles and added 0.5 tackle for loss. He has 27 total tackles and a sack in the season so far.

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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football captain keeps things in perspective after Ohio State loss