Kirk Ferentz, Iowa taking it day-by-day after loss to Ohio State

The Iowa Hawkeyes had a chance to make a statement in Week 5 against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

They came into the game ranked No. 14 and riding high off a last-second win over the Michigan Wolverines at The Big House. 

Beating the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes was never going to be an easy task, but Kinnick Stadium is one of the best home-field advantages in football, and the Hawkeyes have been known to get "down and dirty" with teams and force them to play their style of football. That usually means special teams and defense wins the day, or at least, that's how it's been throughout the Kirk Ferentz era.

The Hawkeyes did their best to muck it up with the Buckeyes, but OSU started pulling away toward the end of the second half and then ended up going on to win, 31-14.

"We knew it was going to be a challenge going in, and unfortunately, we couldn't meet that challenge," Ferentz said after the game.

The challenges won't end for Iowa just because one of the best teams in the country is now in the rearview of the schedule. In fact, the No. 20 Hawkeyes are facing a brutal stretch that starts with a trip out west to take on the Washington Huskies on Friday night.

Not only is this a tough Big Ten opponent for Iowa, but the Hawkeyes have to travel  west on short rest all the way out to Seattle to play this game. Not only that, but the Huskies are coming off a demoralizing and last-second loss to the USC Trojans, and they're now 0-2 in Big Ten play.

Jedd Fisch's team is going to be hot-to-trot to pick up a win at home, and the Hawkeyes can't afford to look ahead of the Huskies.

Iowa Hawkeyes can't get caught looking ahead 

They may be tempted to, though, because after Washington is a red-hot Minnesota team on the road and then Iowa welcomes in Wisconsin.

This is a tough stretch, without a doubt, but as a veteran coach, Ferentz was already sowing the seeds of focus on Saturday night. He was asked how he'll get his team to bounce back after the tough loss to OSU.

"Like we always do, it's just you go back to work and it's day by day," Ferentz said. 

Iowa can absolutely be a dark-horse College Football Playoff team, but the Hawkeyes have to win out to do so. With that said, they can't get ahead of themselves as they enter this crucial stretch.

First, they have to face the tall task of going on the road on short rest and beating Washington. It's one game at a time from here on out.

"After this next game, we'll figure that out later on, but right now we just need to worry about getting ready for this next one," Ferentz said.