Ohio State defender may have had the breakout game vs. Iowa that will really help him take off

Ohio State’s defense showed up in a big way once again against Iowa and it helped the Buckeyes move to 5-0 on the season.

The Buckeyes allowed just a garbage time touchdown to hand Iowa a 35-7 win in Big Ten play. It was a focused win for Ohio State, who showed they were focused on the task at hand, and not yet looking forward to Oregon.

The defense allowed just 226 total yards of offense and forced three turnovers. Superficially, linebacker Sonny Styles was one player that really shined at times. It couldn’t have come at a better time for Styles, who has been on the wrong end of some criticism lately.

Styles had seven tackles, two tackles for a loss, and a fumble recovery against Iowa. He really flashed playing downhill and even worked sideline to sideline at times and did it in an impressive way. The junior linebacker had a big hand in limiting Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson and their rushing attack .

"You look at Higgins for (Iowa), number 34, he had 174 tackles for them last year. Some of the great linebackers out there, they've played a lot,” OSU head coach Ryan Day said after the win over Iowa. “The more Sonny plays, the more he's able to diagnose plays. Every rep he gets is an investment in his future and he'll play faster and faster the more he plays."

In recent weeks, Styles has at times looked out of place, or made a bad read other times. While his season in all has been fine, the lapses have been glaring at points. But the first-year linebacker really put it all together against Iowa and that could be a great sign for the future.

Styles is up to 30 tackles on the season and is easily going to bypass his career-high mark of 53 tackles. With more important games in the future coming up, the Buckeyes could really use this Iowa game as a catapult for a player like Styles.

Time will tell if the junior can build off of the big showing and make this kind of game a more consistent theme. He was one of the best players on the field Saturday and will hope to continue that.

Related: Iowa star makes tone-deaf comment after Ohio State dismantled the Hawkeyes in Big Ten play