Huskies Unsure Who Will Quarterback Iowa

In his Tuesday media briefing, University of Washington defense coordinator Ryan Walters was asked about Iowa's top two quarterbacks, who are markedly different in size, and whether he would game plan differently for each one.

This was early afternoon in front of a handful of media members and neither Walters nor the person posing the question knew at the time what was happening in Iowa City.

At that moment, Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz revealed that starting quarterback Hank Brown had suffered a mild shoulder strain in a 31-14 loss to Ohio State and was questionable for Friday night's game at Husky Stadium.

Which means Walters might not have to concern himself at all with the 6-foot-4, 218-pound Brown and instead direct his attention to the much shorter back-up, 5-foot-11, 201-pound Jeremy Hecklinski.

'Based on what I know thus far, it'd be foolish to say he is starting," Ferentz said of Brown. "If he does, great."

Husky cornerbacks Dylan Robinson and Manny Karnley, start your engines.

The tale of the Iowa quarterback tape goes as follows:

Brown is a former Auburn signal-caller from Nashville, Tennessee, who, while starting all five Iowa games this season, hasn't played much in four seasons at his two schools -- 13 games combined with 7 starts to date.

In his career, he's completed 123 of 197 passes for 1,474 yards and 12 touchdowns with 5 interceptions.

He comes off a somewhat inaccurate outing against Ohio State in which he connected on just 12 of 27 passes for 152 yards and no scores.

Hawkeyes quarterback Jeremy Hecklinski (10) throws a pass during the Ohio State game. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

If Brown can't play, this turns everyone's attention to the shorter Hecklinski, a former Wake Forest player originally from Marietta, Georgia.

He's appeared in six career games and never started. He has career passing totals of 20-for-34 for 216 yards for a TD with one pass theft.

UW safeties Alex McLaughlin and Rylon Dillard-Allen, try and control yourselves.

Brown hadn't really played much at all until this season, previously starting two games at Auburn in 2024 and none for the Hawkeyes last year.

Iowa quarterback Hank Brown gets sacked and fumbles the football against Ohio State Buckeyes. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

He does have one gold star on his personal ledger after leading Iowa to a come-from-behind 20-19 victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor. He was good on 21 of 35 passes for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns that day.

Hecklinski, for that matter, drew some snaps against Ohio State last weekend and was 5-for-5 for 67 yards, so he's been warmed up recently.

Either way, the Huskies will be facing a less than 100 percent Iowa QB or his back-up trying to calm his nerves come Friday night.

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