Hank Brown received support from an unlikely source after his first Iowa start

The lingering starting quarterback decision has unsurprisingly leaked into week two, with the real test coming against Iowa State.

Hank Brown got the start for the Hawkeyes last weekend against Northern Illinois, with Jeremy Hecklinski coming in second, and even though we don't yet know who will start against the Cyclones, there is a good chance the strategy remains the same. The official week two depth chart again placed an "OR" distinction between the two, but after Brown's first career start with the Hawkeyes, he is starting to receive some support.

Brown's solid week one performance have some calling for him to remain the starter

Brown made the most of his reps during his "pitch count" against Northern Illinois, and showed why the coaching staff had faith in him all offseason. The starting quarterback decision has lasted this long for a reason, and it likely won't be decided until week three or later. Regardless of who ultimately earns the job, Brown received a massive vote of confidence after his week one performance.

Recently on the Pat McAfee Show, massive Hawkeye football fan and University of Iowa graduate Ty Schmit made the bold statement that Iowa is "all the way back," and he is throwing his support behind Brown going forward. Schmit, like many others, was on the Hecklinski hype train, but after Brown's performance, Schmit has thrown his support behind Brown. He playfully said, "What can Brown do for you?" and followed that up by saying that the "Hecklinski era" was fun, but it should be over.

Northern Illinois is nowhere near the opponent to truly determine who should win the job, but Brown definitely threw the first punch in the fight for the starting role. Hecklinski isn't out of it, but this weekend's game against Iowa State should prove who the guy is moving forward. Both quarterbacks have gotten their feet wet, and now it's put-up-or-shut-up time in the annual Cy-Hawk football rivalry game.

Brown shouldn't be handed the job yet, but he made a good first impression

Everyone (including us here at Dear Old Gold) was extremely hyped after Hecklinski's clinic on Kids Day, and was ready to hand him the starting job right then and there. Kirk Ferentz is much smarter than we are and is waiting to decide until he has all the important data. Ferentz used game one as the first test and is extending his evaluation into week two against Iowa State. Ferentz is making absolutely sure he makes the right decision, and it isn't a bad thing that the competition is heading into another week.

Brown definitely had the better game of the two in week one, but against a much weaker opponent, it isn't a fair assessment of what he can/cannot do versus what Hecklinski can/cannot do. Iowa State is in full rebuild mode and has a tough uphill battle on the road at Kinnick Stadium in week two, but we all know that rivalry games are extremely tough and aren't won on paper. The Cyclones won't go down without a fight, and whichever quarterback plays better this weekend should be given the job before week three. That way, whoever wins it will have a full game against Northern Iowa to prepare for a tough road test against Michigan to start the Big Ten schedule.

Did Brown play better against NIU? Yes, but we shouldn't be too quick to hand him the keys to the car until both quarterbacks are truly tested against Iowa State next weekend in a pivotal rivalry matchup. If the decision isn't made after next week, the program will be in much worse shape than we thought.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow