Iowa Football Names Hank Brown Starter vs Iowa State: Biggest Takeaways

For the second time in as many weeks, Hank Brown has gotten the starting nod for the Iowa Hawkeyes at quarterback.

After commanding three scoring drives on the first three drives of the Week 1 game against Northern Illinois, Brown will try to engineer Iowa's offense to do the same against Iowa State in the Cy-Hawk rivalry.

Jeremy Hecklinski is set to play, as he did in Week 1, and should see action early, but keeping Hank Brown the starter gives some insight as to where Iowa is at with its quarterback battle.

Iowa is set to start Hank Brown at QB tomorrow vs. Iowa State, sources tell me and @DavidEickholt.

Worth noting though that the Hawkeyes’ QB competition remains unsettled and, like last week, Jeremy Hecklinski is expected to get early playing time as well for No. 21 ranked Iowa. pic.twitter.com/TgqCmYZiKN
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) September 11, 2026

There is continuity with Tim Lester and Hank Brown

By no means at all is this saying continuity doesn't exist between Jeremy Hecklinski and Tim Lester. What I think it means is that Iowa, which is undoubtedly scripting its first 10 or 15 plays against Iowa State, as I attempted to do, believes Hank Brown can handle all of those without issue.

It does provide some confirmation to the eye test that we saw last week. When Hank Brown was in the game, Iowa's offense looked in rhythm and without clunkiness.

It was largely due to the success Iowa's offensive line had in paving massive holes for Kamari Moulton, but that doesn't come without Hank Brown commanding the offense with a high level of confidence in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage.

Jeremy Hecklinski will play an important role in this game

If the Cy-Hawk game has taught us anything, it's that this game is going to be funky and see some quirky plays for both teams. That sort of oddness fits Jeremy Hecklinski's game well.

While Hank Brown is more of a rhythm thrower who likes to get the ball out on time to the route concepts, Jeremy Hecklinski can freestyle, which I suspect we will see in this game.

Iowa State is going to bring creative pressures and do a good job of mixing up looks or changing coverages post-snap. That requires adapting on the fly, which is where Jeremy Hecklinski's mobility comes into play.

Hecklinski can get outside of the pocket, extend plays, and use his legs to save Iowa from negative plays when pressure gets home. I suspect he pops for a couple of flash plays in this game when Iowa State guesses right on defense.

How to watch Iowa vs Iowa State, Time, TV Channel, Streaming

Kickoff Time: 6:30 p.m. CT

Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa

TV Channel: NBC

Streaming: Peacock

Add us as a preferred source on Google