By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Call it a quiet confidence since Hank Brown never gave any indication in the days leading up to the Iowa State game this past Saturday that he would go the distance for Iowa at quarterback.

He just believed he would, but without knowing for sure.

Brown was expected to rotate with Jeremy Hecklinski as they did for the first half of the season opener against Northern Illinois.

But this time, the rotation never happened as Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz decided to stick with Brown from start to finish against Iowa State.

Iowa would go on to win 16-13 on a late 42-yard field goal by Caden Buhr after tailing 10-0 in the second quarter.

Brown said there was no set rotation for the quarterbacks heading into the Iowa State game.

He was told by Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester that it would depend on how the game was going, which Brown used as motivation to play well.

“Coach Lester said it was going to be fluid and he was going to feel how the game was going,” Brown said. “But I had confidence that I was going to play the whole time, just knowing me playing well I was going to be able to stick in there the whole time. And so I prepared and had the confidence that that was going to be the case.”

And while there still is the word, or, separating Brown’s name from Hecklinski’s name on the depth chart, Brown is expected to make his third straight start when Iowa (2-0) faces Northern Iowa (1-1) on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

A reporter cut right to the chase on Tuesday and asked Kirk Ferentz if Hank Brown is the starting quarterback.

“He started last week, and as I stand here right now, he’ll probably start this week,” Ferentz said of Brown. “So I guess that’s, yes, right now, like a lot of guys, yeah.”

Ferentz was then asked if it’s subject to change?

“Everything is subject to change,” Ferentz said. “Yeah, pretty much everything. Yep. Absolutely.”

Brown, who transferred from Auburn prior to the 2025 season, has been more steady than spectacular in two games as the starter.

The Nashville, Tennessee native has completed 33-of-50 passes for 320 yards and one touchdown.

He also has avoided committing any turnovers, which probably carries a lot of weight with Kirk Ferentz.

Hecklinski, meanwhile, completed 7-of-16 passes for 76 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the 40-0 victory over Northern Illinois while playing through three quarters.

It could be argued that Brown performed a little better than Hecklinski in the season opener, so maybe that’s why Ferentz stuck with Brown throughout the Iowa State game.

Hecklinski had supposedly gained some momentum by clearly outperforming Brown in the Kids Day practice on Aug. 15.

But as Kirk Ferentz said afterwards, it was just one practice so don’t overreact.

His request fell on deaf ears, though as some did overreact by assuming that Hecklinski now had the edge.

Brown and Hecklinski both were made available to the media in the first two weekly press conferences of the season.

However, Hecklinski wasn’t made available this week. But he also wasn’t requested.

Kirk Ferentz has his reasons for still wanting the word or listed between Iowa’s top two quarterbacks on the depth chart.

It sure looks and feels as if Brown is the full-time starter, but if Ferentz doesn’t want to go that far, that is his prerogative as head coach.

Ferentz answered questions for about 25 minutes at his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

The last question asked to him was about Hecklinski as a reporter said he had heard Hecklinski didn’t have the greatest week of practice last week and wondered if he was doing better this week.

The reporter then asked how important it is to get Hecklinski some more game reps with Big Ten play set to start at Michigan on Sept. 26.

“First of all, you didn’t hear that from me. I’m not co-signing that one,” Kirk Ferentz said. “I didn’t think that at all, quite frankly. I don’t think we had anybody that was perfect out there. Things happen, and that’s part of the position, that position especially. That’s what practice is for is getting that stuff cleaned up and doing well.

“I thought he had a good week. It really wasn’t as much about him Saturday as it was the game and the way it was going and just where we were at. As I said earlier, alluded to earlier, I’ve got an open mind right now. We’ll have a conversation. The coaches will all talk about it on Thursday. But both guys are really practicing well. I can’t overstate — again, I’m not telling story. Both guys are better players than they were a year ago. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”

**********

Injury report: Iowa will likely be without starting tight end DJ Vonnahme against Northern Iowa this Saturday due to an injury, while running back Kamari Moulton is questionable.

“Vonnahme, I doubt will be ready on Saturday, at least at this point I don’t expect that,” Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday. “Then we have a handful of guys that have done very well, are really sore right now. We’ll see how that progresses as the week goes on and play that by ear. But we’ll take it day by day on that one.”

Ferentz said defensive back Tyler Brown is making progress after suffering a soft tissue injury on the final day of summer workouts. The injury has caused Brown to miss the first two games.

“Tyler Brown is starting to get some work,” Ferentz said. “I don’t know that he’ll play this week, but at least he’s working back.”