Iowa football QB competition still 'back and forth'

A few weeks ago, third-year quarterback Jeremy Hecklinski lit it up at the annual Kinnick Stadium Kids Day practice.

The former Wake Forest transfer was dotting up Phil Parker's defense, making plays that fans had been begging to see from an Iowa quarterback for years. At the conclusion of the practice, many fans and media members had their minds made up: Hecklinski should be the Hawkeyes' starting quarterback in Week 1.

Like most things in life, it's never that simple. Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz reminded everyone of that on Wednesday, saying that the Hawkeyes' quarterback competition remains a back-and-forth affair between Hecklinski and Hank Brown.

While many of us thought the QB battle was decided after Kids' Day, Kirk Ferentz knew this race would be a back-and-forth affair right down to the wire.

"I knew that [one would look better that day]. That day everyone left the stadium saying 'Ok, we know who it is and we're… pic.twitter.com/FPG00CMRPP

— Brad Schultz (@BradMSchultz) August 26, 2026

"You knew that was going to happen. I didn't know who it would be, but you just knew something was going to happen like that. So, it was kind of entertaining, because we had eight days that didn't look like that and that day was like (that). So, everybody left the stadium, 'OK, we know who it is.' And we're all a bunch of dumbasses if we don't realize it. But, the bigger picture, this is whatever, 18th practice or 19th, something like that. Prior to that, Hank (Brown) had had the lead. It's illustrative of how this thing can go, or has gone and can go. Because it's been back and forth since that time. And that's a good illustration.

"Talking about the game. Once we get into games, that may happen again. And whoever's doing good in the game, they get the next shot, so that'll be how it goes if we get there," Ferentz said.

Ferentz makes a good point about the small sample size nature of Kids Day. While it's a highly visible event, it is just one practice in the grand scope of things. Making a decision based solely on Kids Day would be short-sighted and out of character for a veteran coach like Ferentz.

Ferentz was also asked how he weighs the balance of letting the competition continue to play out—perhaps into the season—against the need for the team to know who its starting quarterback is ahead of the Hawkeyes' season opener.

"Yeah, we will. Somebody next week is going to be taking snaps with the 1's, and we'll probably still divvy a little bit. But, we've been divvying basically 50/50. Or, not 50/50 totally because we've also let Jimmy (Sullivan) get reps, but we've been pretty equal in terms of reps and all that. We're going to have to start going the other way here a little bit next week," Ferentz said.

With the season opener coming up next weekend, a decision on the starting quarterback will come soon. For now, Ferentz and his staff are evaluating every look they've gotten at the two guys before making that choice.

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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football QB competition still 'back and forth'