Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz Grace Hollars / IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Iowa Could Start Any QB vs. Wisconsin

Originally posted on Iowa Hawkeyes on SI | By Lane Mills | Last updated Oct 8, 2025 11:00 AM ET

There are many times in which it is appropriate to experiment with your team during a long college football season. Although, backs against the wall and facing an undoubted must-win game, that may be one of the few scenarios in which you play it absolutely safe. Unless, apparently, you're Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz.

Then, at 3-1 (1-1) heading into a conference matchup on the road, there is no better time to initiate a quarterback battle on a roster with essentially no concrete offensive presence.

As the Hawkeyes prepare to battle against the 2-3 (0-2) Badgers away from home, the looming injury of starting senior quarterback Mark Gronowski has left the team's signal-calling position wide open, at least in the immediate window the team's time.

According to Ferentz, any of the three of the roster's quarterbacks could start the bout against the Badgers. This may (rightfully) come as a surprise to many fans and analysts who, given backup QB Hank Brown entering in the loss to the Indiana Hoosiers when Gronowski went down in the fourth quarter, assumed he'd be the one to take the role if Gronowski can't go.

To call this sentiment uninspiring would be an understatement. Brown, in his admittedly limited run against the visiting Hoosiers, threw for just 48 yards, including an untimely interception on his first pass. He would complete just five passes on 13 attempts.

While Brown's struggles were likely due in part to the sudden and stressful nature of his entry, his subsequent output is still far from inspiring considering the Hawkeyes' circumstances.

Yet on either side of Brown, it seems, is a questionably healthy Mark Gronowski and third-string QB Jeremy Hecklinski — who hasn't seen any in-game action this season — making the options appear more than limited.

Even if Iowa manages to squeak past an unfavorable Wisconsin this week, the quarterback position must be solidified by the time the Penn State Nittany Lions come into town the week after. Even given the Nittany Lions' two-game skid, the Hawkeyes can't take for granted a team chalk-full of NFL potentials and multi-year playmakers.

Much of the Hawkeyes season depends on their matchup with the Badgers; with a half-week left until kickoff, Ferentz' and his staff don't have long to come to a decision on who will lead the charge.

This article first appeared on Iowa Hawkeyes on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: