By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Kirk Ferentz kept fans and the media waiting and guessing for as long as he could, but we now know that Hank Brown will start at quarterback in Saturday’s season opener against Northern Illinois at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa finally made it official in its pre-game notes, which were posted on social media about two hours before the 3:16 p.m. kickoff.

Brown, a fourth-year player from Nashville, Tenn., is in a hotly contested battle for the starting position with third-year player Jeremy Hecklinski.

Ferentz said this past Tuesday that whichever quarterback started Saturday’s game would be inconsequential, and not necessarily a sign of who has the advantage.

Ferentz has described the competition at quarterback as too close to call since spring practice.

Both quarterbacks are expected to get a similar number of snaps to show what they can do.

Neither Brown nor Hecklinski were able to create any separation in practice, so the competition now carries to the regular season.

Hecklinski clearly outperformed Brown in the Kids Day practice on Aug. 15, but Kirk Ferentz said afterwards to not over-react to just one practice.