By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – On Tuesday, Iowa strong safety Tyler Brown said he was excited for the challenge of facing Ohio State’s high-powered offense led by star receiver Jeremiah Smith.

But then on Wednesday, Brown was listed as out for Saturday’s game on the Big Ten’s initial availability report.

Brown appeared to be limping, and in some discomfort at different points in last Saturday’s 20-19 win at Michigan, causing speculation that he might have reaggravated the soft-tissue injury that caused him to miss a considerable amount of preseason practice and also the first two games of the season.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said Brown was “iffy” at his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

Brown, a transfer from James Madison and a native of Annapolis, Maryland,, has 11 tackles in two games this season, and one forced fumble.

He was listed as the starter at strong safety on this week’s depth chart, ahead of Villanova transfer Anthony Hawkins, who started the first two games.

The fact that Brown attended the player interview session on Tuesday made it seem as if he would play against the Buckeyes, but that was before Ferentz described Brown’s status as iffy.

“I’m excited for the challenge,” Brown said Tuesday. “I’m excited to show everyone what we can do, and once again show our skill set and show everyone what we’ve been working so hard for.”

No. 14 Iowa (4-0, 1-0) faces fifth-ranked Ohio State (3-1, 1-0) Saturday at 2:39 p.m. at Kinnick Stadium.

First-year Iowa defensive back Darion Jones and and third-year linebacker Derek Weisskopf both were listed as questionable for the Ohio State game, while defensive back Kyler Gerardy was listed as out for the Ohio State game.