Iowa had no business winning its game against Michigan, but the offense did just enough, thanks to a brilliant fourth quarter by Hank Brown.
Brown and the Iowa offense were middling throughout the first three quarters, until the passing game did some massive damage. Heading into the fourth quarter, Brown was 8/16 for 85 yards, and the offense was 2/8 on third down. Brown tallied 142 passing yards and two touchdowns on 13/16, including engineering the game-winning drive with under two minutes remaining. He was excellent when the lights were brightest, a far cry from what happened at the same time last year.
Brown deserves a ton of credit for putting in the work to improve and not giving up
A year ago, Brown was Mark Gronowski's primary backup as the Hawkeyes welcomed eventual National Champion Indiana to Kinnick Stadium. The Hoosiers were coming off an excellent 2024 campaign in which they made the program's first College Football Playoff. Fernando Mendoza looked like one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and Iowa was not expected to be in the game. Similar to Iowa's game against Michigan this year, the Hawkeyes did just enough to hang around with Indiana until Gronowski went down with an injury.
After transferring from Auburn the winter before, Brown won the backup job and was forced into the game against Indiana after Gronowski was hurt on a scramble attempt. To say Brown played poorly would be an understatement, and he couldn't get Iowa over the finish line to beat Indiana. Indiana ultimately won 20-15, and Brown had one word to describe his performance: disappointing. Iowa had numerous chances to knock off No. 11 Indiana, but they couldn't capitalize. The game hampered Brown's early career in the Iowa program, and Jeremy Hecklinski quickly supplanted him as the backup.
Heading into the offseason, Hecklinski was the projected starter because he served as Gronowski's backup for the latter part of the 2025 season. However, the two remaining quarterbacks were instead entrenched in a battle for the job. Brown started the first three games this season and eventually earned the job, and he had his best moment as a Hawkeye against Michigan. Brown put in the work and showed what he can do when he has the confidence of the staff and his teammates, and this is just the beginning for Brown.
Iowa has their guy, and it feels different than the past
This isn't the first time we have seen a lengthy starting quarterback battle play out, but all the waiting eventually paid off. Kirk Ferentz and the coaching staff made the right choice, as shown by how much improvement Brown showed against Michigan. In a similar situation last season, Brown crumbled under pressure, raising questions about his ability to handle tough situations in meaningful games. It took a few weeks to answer those questions this season, and Brown is clearly the guy moving forward.
In previous quarterback battles, even when the coaching staff chose who they thought was the best option, it didn't always work out. Recent examples include Jake Christensen beating out Rick Stanzi in camp and Jake Ruddock beating out CJ Beathard, and we all know how those turned out. Brown feels different, and while it's still early in his Hawkeye career, he's shown the toughness and grit we hoped he would last season. He could have easily folded after being shoved to third string last season, but he put in the time and effort to get better, and it's shown.
It was only one game, but beating Michigan on the road isn't easy, and Brown showcased what he can do in the win. If he can have a similar or better performance against Ohio State, he has a good chance to lead Iowa to its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance.
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