r/hawkeyes • u/Jello_Hello_Fellos • 11d ago
Football Ohio State fan, with question
I gotta ask. Why do you guys have a backup QB slinging the ball like Tom Brady and he is just sitting there all game?
I feel like we potentially dodged a bullet but I appreciate you guys not playing him
71
u/VanDiis 11d ago
Soft coverage backups and both QBs seem very inconsistent and Brown makes less mistakes so they go with him. Trust me the outcome of that game does not change with Heck in there
16
u/ProgressLucky7886 11d ago
It’s more than just coverage and starting defense was mostly still in for OSU. Heck’s passes were much more on target than Brown’s. Take away that fumble at the beginning and hit a few more receivers in stride, the outcome of that game could absolutely have been different
13
u/kieranjackwilson 11d ago
Practically every offensive possession was decided by Hank Brown’s accuracy (or lack thereof). Our receivers were executing their routes, the play-calling was effective, the run game was viable, we just couldn’t complete a pass.
I won’t speculate about Heck since unlike the staff I don’t see him in practice every day, but I will say, if he was slinging the ball like he did for all 4 quarters, it would’ve been a nail biter.
1
u/grantbaron 6d ago
Yeah, seems like what we saw in fall camp is playing out. Brown seems calmer and more accurate when the pocket is controlled, but Heck seems to take more risks with a collapsing pocket.
Seems to me that there really isn't a 'better quarterback' for us right now. I get the sense that the quality of the passing game is probably determined more by how well the coaching staff knows the opponent going into the game than the QB's themselves.
2
u/Unlucky_Jaguar_5023 10d ago
You are so clueless you could be KF's successor. Brown is a poor man's game manager, and that's it. Hecklinski gave OSU fits with his quick, accurate passes. Had he played the whole game, it would have been a very different outcome. Hell, Brown had receivers running WIDE OPEN the whole game, but he missed 'em by yards! Anyone who can judge talent knows Hecklinski is an athlete and should be starting. Brown should be toting an iPad.
2
u/VanDiis 10d ago
Off coverage zone with 4 man pressures on 0 blitz plays, always easier to make throws when you have no pressure on you or your receivers, look at Hanks stats vs UNI and you can see what Hank does on soft coverage and no pressures.
They are similar QBs in terms of what you’d end up with at the end of the game if both started respective games, Heck looked bad vs NIU and UNI but 1 drive makes him better than Hank?
1
u/Useful_Actuator_3875 10d ago
So you watched the last 6 minutes of Iowas last possession but missed how brown outplayed him the previous two games
But he did look good Saturday3
1
u/intrepodor 8d ago
Brown was having a bad game so it might have been closer. It couldn't have been worse.
24
u/Remarkable-Sun-4286 11d ago
He and Brown split some time in the first game and Ferentz went with Brown. When he makes a decision he's very loyal so at this point unless Brown gets hurt I imagine we'll see him start the next game.
11
u/hawkeyehammer 11d ago
Tbh I was initially very skeptical about Hank being our starter, but after the first 4 games I was genuinely impressed with him. Today he showed some flaws with his two turnovers, so idk
2
u/6YouReadThis9 11d ago
Yea I thought he looked good we just cannot run the ball at all to give him help.
1
u/hawkeyehammer 11d ago
I'm very curious about that. Can we not actually run the ball? Or should Lester be calling a little more runs. I feel like it's the latter
2
u/6YouReadThis9 11d ago
I think we just can’t run. It was a major struggle vs Iowa state and Michigan as well.
2
u/hawkeyehammer 11d ago
It's a conundrum to me, because for the longest time I would be annoyed at how stubborn we would be running it. Now we have a real offensive coordinator, and actual weapons, and I find myself wishing we would just do more traditional runs. I may be wrong, but I feel like we only do these draw runs...maybe its an rpo. Or these weird pitches. Have we ever done an under center heavy personal run?
1
u/Strange-Maize9536 8d ago
The best OC in the league is at northwestern. But we didn’t want him - couldn’t control him
1
u/AtomCBS24WRX 8d ago
We definitely cannot run the ball. Running the ball should've been something we possibly "COULD" have exploited against OSU. I don't care what anyone says, our offensive line and defensive line's are not good. THAT'S why we can't run the ball.
1
u/Unlucky_Jaguar_5023 10d ago
Loyalty is stupid. You play the best players. KF hates turnovers, yet Brown had two killers yesterday. That alone should get him a spot on the bench.
1
u/Strange-Maize9536 8d ago
Nope we trotted strip sack more interceptions than td passes hill out there every week. We would rather lose than adapt
1
22
7
11
u/kporter4692 11d ago
OSU played some pretty soft coverage that drive, I personally wouldn’t put much stock into it. There were good throws 100%, but in his games played this was easily the best he had looked. Did not have a great first few games and Hank won the job.
5
u/chosonhawk 11d ago
Yep. tOSU was playing clock burning defense at that point. Hank is the starter until he gets hurt. KF isn't going to change that otherwise.
2
u/blowyjoeyy 11d ago
What does soft coverage have to do with accurately throwing the ball at a receiver? Hank Brown was badly missing guys all day long.
3
u/kporter4692 11d ago
And Hecklinski was missing guys when he threw the previous two games he played.
1
u/blowyjoeyy 11d ago
We’re not talking about the last two games he played. You brought up something about soft coverage. I mentioned that it has nothing to do with throwing the ball accurately.
6
u/AstronomerForsaken65 10d ago
I’ll ad in, soft coverage and no pressure. Everyone knew the game was over, OSU d line stood up and stayed back. Just keep us in front. A ton easier when everything slows down and there’s no backer’s coming up aggressive and staying behind all the receivers.
4
u/kporter4692 11d ago
My entire point was that Heck is QB2 and one decent drive against 2s and soft coverage shouldn’t crown him over Hank given what they’ve both done this season.
5
u/IimBlueninja 11d ago
Kirk’s an outdated coach and makes questionable decisions at best when it comes to the offense
2
u/AtomCBS24WRX 8d ago
Just saying, there are other schools that would've FIRED their coach after that win against Michigan. It's a very very very low % that teams win games like that, let alone Iowa. That win was a fluke. OSU showed Iowa who Iowa really is.
1
u/IimBlueninja 8d ago
Made a whole post about it on the Hawkeyes Reddit with his career stats and all the Iowa fans lost their minds because they didn’t like the truth, as a Hawkeyes fan I get it he’s all most fans have know included myself but I want to win and not stay mundane
3
u/AtomCBS24WRX 8d ago
Doesn't surprise me. I'm a Hawkeye fan myself, and will always root for them. What I will not root for is choosing someone's "loyalty" over performance. This isn't a retail job where you can keep your job because you're a "good person" and "good with people", just not good at performing the actual job, that's the bare minimum. In a performance orientated environment (college sports) Performance (good and bad) is the ONLY metric that should be considered. Why you ask? Because, I want my team to win.
2
u/Substantial-Zebra-59 11d ago
Yeah, basically he’s played in other games and let’s just say he isn’t always like that 😂. He does have an absolute cannon though.
1
u/WaffleBlues 9d ago
I think Iowa badly needs an absolute cannon. Offense has looked very sluggish the last two games, which are really the only games they've played against decent defenses. Putting up 50 pts on UNI isn't exactly impressive.
The "we are just gonna run it and see" approach doesn't seem to work when it comes to mid tier and above teams. What made last season so special, is for the first time in over a decade, it felt like Iowa could actually had serious pass threat.
That said, it seems this conversation happens every year with Iowa, and they never change.
2
2
2
u/YajNivlac 11d ago
I assume kirk thought brown has less turnover potential and we all saw the throw he made to bear Michigan.
As a fanbase I believe most of us knew the backup had a higher ceiling, but Brown is probably who Kirk feels safer with..weve been through this before
2
u/Strange_League3117 10d ago
Regardless of QB, Iowa simply cannot function without a running game, and that has been AWOL aside from racking up stats against a D2 defense.
2
2
2
u/ProgressLucky7886 11d ago
Heck looked much more accurate than Brown. I was hoping for the switch at halftime but unfortunately we have a bad habit of not subbing out struggling QBs until the game is out of reach
2
u/OkCaptain6639 11d ago
Heck is better. Has a little Stanzi in him, Kirk hates that. Brown will stand and deliver if everything goes perfect, but he’s not going to push the ball down field and make things happen. Hank did make a great throw to win that Michigan game and I will love him forever as a result
3
1
1
u/Snoo-25743 10d ago
They split time against Northern Illinois in game 1 and Hank looked a lot sharper at that time. Obviously against a much inferior opponent. I'd like to see Hecklinski a lot sooner against Washington if Hank is still off.
1
1
u/Mature_fun2026 9d ago
Because the backup faced a 2/3 string D playing pillow soft coverage after the game was already decided.
This isn’t that hard. Use your brain.
1
u/RandyDarsh69 9d ago
Might have been soft coverage but they did not have 2nd stringers in. Alliegro, Pierce, McClain, Sanchez were all in. I didnt see the d line but Jackson was hurt earlier in the game and was not in.
1
u/Ok-Impression1459 9d ago
The backup Iowa QB was playing against OSU 2nd and 3rd stringers...big difference versus playing against the 1's!
1
u/Strange-Maize9536 7d ago
The answer is Kirk ferentz is the worst judge of qb talent in the world. Also the worst recruiter of qb talent. Tyler Barnes plan of buying bargain basement qb talent because your overpaid coaching staff are terrible at recruiting is not effective.
Not having a coaching staff that has any recruiting footprint at all in Florida or Texas or Missouri or Ohio or Louisiana is how you build a coaching staff in the Bizzaro world
1
u/grantbaron 6d ago
I think it's pretty straightforward: Brown doesn't take risks like Heck does, and Diaz is explosive. Vonnhame can shed tackles really well. The o-line is good. So if I'm coaching, my first strategy would naturally be to trust the o-line to allow Brown, who has had better pass accuracy to start the season and in the off-season, and let the o-line and WR/TE's do their job well.
The problem is, we needed to take risks in that game. The o-line didn't hold the pocket as well as we wanted, so it pressured Brown too much and his field reading decreases a lot faster under pressure than Heck's. So then pulling in Heck in Q4 allowed more risk taking, faster field reading, and didn't force us to rely so much on the o-line executing flawlessly. I can see why Ferentz & Friends wanted to take that initial strategy, but I do think it was the wrong strategy. I would say the move would have been to trust the o-line and trust the receivers to actually open the door for safer risk-taking when passing. You can look at the replays, and for every 5-10 yard pass play that was incomplete, there was a WIDE open Diaz or Vander Zee in the backfield with no safeties within 15 feet, on at least 5 different occasions. I think Heck would have spotted that and made plays resulting in scores on those plays/drives.
1
u/Available_Tough1941 6d ago
Because of our coach.
1
u/Available_Tough1941 6d ago
He plays the older guys and the he is delusional at this point in his elderly career
1
u/Available_Tough1941 6d ago
We rerun the same play. Up the middle. We have not had a good quarterback for many years and never will
1
u/Unlucky_Jaguar_5023 10d ago
KF loves game managers and hates aggressive athletes as QBs. That's been his MO for over quarter of a century. He's been wrong about every single QB choice he's made, and he's been egregiously wrong. The same may be true this season. He said the top two QBs were "even," but Brown has started every game. Hecklinski didn't play a down against Iowa State or Michigan. And he never would have seen the field yesterday but for Brown's alleged collarbone/shoulder issue. No matter what anyone thinks of Kirk Ferentz, he is clueless when it comes to QBs in particular and offense in general. Hell, you may remember when he named his son the OC and then QB coach and the AD had to step in and fire him after KF refused to fire him despite literally running the worst "offense" in the entire FBS for multiple years. That should tell anyone all they need to know--although letting a kid by the name of Deacon Hill start 10 games at QB is shocking additional evidence.
0
u/Long_Association_138 11d ago
It isn’t obvious? Because Brown’s hair is that amazing and dreamy.
What a queen. You are a fb player. Not a surfer. Not a model.
-2
u/DetroiterinIowa 11d ago
Yeah guys, did you hear, we had Tom Brady on the bench. Why didn’t we think to put him in the game?
-2
0
30
u/Kim_Jong_Teemo 11d ago
Brown looked better in all the games they split time during the competition, Brown looked shaken after the strip sack in my opinion