Iowa Hawkeyes offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tim Lester Joseph Cress for the Des Moines Register | Joseph Cress / For the Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa Preparing Backup QB to Step Up

Originally posted on Iowa Hawkeyes on SI | By Lane Mills | Last updated Oct 3, 2025 7:00 AM ET

The Iowa Hawkeyes dropping back down to .500 with a nail-biting home loss to a ranked Indiana Hoosiers team, following a missed chip-shot field goal, is a painful enough reckoning for the black and gold faithful. But when you add the mysterious injury of starting quarterback Mark Gronowski on top of that, the weight becomes almost unbearable for a 2-2 team facing down a schedule packed with B1G talent in the coming weeks.

Early in the fourth quarter of the battle against the Hoosiers, Gronowski hit the medical tent with a left knee injury and, ultimately, didn't return. After the game, wherein the Hawkeyes' supplanted Gronowski's absence with backup Hank Brown, offensive coordinator and QBs coach Tim Lester said little of the senior signal caller's state beyond calling the scenario "cloudy."

By "coach speak" standards, anything that isn't explicit is far from promising.

Brown, in his brief appearance against the Hoosiers, finished just 5-13 for 48 yards through the air with an interception on his first play, and no touchdowns. To be fair, according to Lester, the plays drawn in the moment for Brown were created specifically for him and, while limited, were the few that he trusted the backup to be comfortable with in such a tight position.

“I hope I don't ever have to open up that file, but I had to last week,” Lester said. "I had to open it up and take Hank's out just to see what his favorites were on the sheet. So you try to call a game to make the kid comfortable.”

Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz also chimed in on the backup quarterback ahead of Iowa's incoming road matchup against the Wisconsin Badgers, in which Brown may have his number called from the first whistle. "He's a high caliber guy and he's been practicing really well,” he said after the loss to Indiana. “This is the experience that will help him as we move forward, too.”

Brown, a sophomore, has plenty of room to grow in spite of his rocky showing late against the Hoosiers. Given the unclear state around Gronowski's injury, it's a safe assumption that the second option may see a promotion as Iowa attempts to dig their heels in and avoid falling any further from their 2-2 deadlock.

“These guys are getting a ton of reps this week, just to see the improvement we're going to need if he's in the game," Lester finished. With the bye week ahead, at the very least, Brown should see ample time to settle in ahead of his potential starting debut against the Badgers next weekend.

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

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