By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – When it comes to how he handles his starting quarterback, Kirk Ferentz just can’t win.

Iowa’s veteran head coach has been accused for years of being way too loyal and stubborn, but now he’s getting criticized for being too impulsive and for pulling the plug way too soon on Jeremy Hecklinski in Saturday’s 13-10 loss at Minnesota.

Hecklinski completed six of his first seven passes against the Gophers, but then he misfired on six of his next nine attempts, including throwing an interception at the Minnesota two-yard line, and Ferentz had seen enough.

Hank Brown replaced Hecklinski in the second quarter, but the struggles at quarterback continued as Brown threw two interceptions and only completed 11 of 21 passes for 136 yards.

Brown did lead Iowa to its only touchdown, which came on a 37-yard pass to wide receiver Reece Vander Zee with just under four minutes left in the fourth quarter. Brown also completed a 57-yard pass to wide receiver Tony Diaz on that same scoring drive.

But other than those two explosive plays, Brown was mostly ineffective, completing just 9-of-19 passes for 42 yards.

A case could certainly be made that Kirk Ferentz pulled the plug too soon on Hecklinski, but most of that argument is fueled by hindsight.

Ferentz was asked in his post-game press conference what went into the decision to switch quarterbacks in the second quarter. Did he see something in Hecklinski’s performance or was it more a case of trying to give the offense a spark?

The fact that Brown started the first five games, and played from start to finish against Iowa State and Michigan, shows that he has had the upper hand in a quarterback competition that was supposedly too close to call heading in the season opener.

Hecklinski certainly didn’t help his cause by throwing an interception near the Minnesota goal line, and he almost threw another interception near the Gopher end zone before Ferentz benched him.

So it wasn’t as if Ferentz had no reason to make a change.

It just seemed odd that Ferentz made the switch so quickly, especially since Hecklinski had thrown three touchdown passes in Iowa’s 41-24 win at Washington on Oct. 9 in Seattle.

Now, of course, the receivers were wide open on all three of Hecklinski’s touchdown passes against Washington, while Iowa also rushed for over 200 yards in the game, creating the ideal circumstances for Hecklinski to play well.

Brown was also only available in an emergency against Washington after having injured his right shoulder in the 31-14 loss to Ohio State on Oct. 3 at Kinnick Stadium.

But with Iowa coming off a bye week on Saturday, Brown had an extra week to heal and that probably figured into Kirk Ferentz’s decision to switch quarterbacks at the first real sign of trouble.

Brown started the first five games because it seems that Kirk Ferentz trusts that he will make the right decisions and the right throws at the right time.

Ferentz showed that trust again by turning to Brown in the second quarter on Saturday, but the move had little impact as the Iowa offense continued to sputter and self-destruct.

What seems clear right now is that Iowa has two quarterbacks that have played winning football at this level, but that also have struggled in key moments.

It’s also important to remember that Brown and Hecklinski have combined to make just seven starts for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester certainly faces a challenge in trying to solidify the quarterback position.

He said during the bye week that both quarterbacks would take meaningful snaps during the second half of the regular season, and he obviously wasn’t kidding.

Ferentz and Lester believe that Iowa has two quarterbacks that can be successful at this level.

But right now, they can’t seem to settle on either one of them, with both quarterbacks both partly to blame.