IOWA CITY - Hank Brown’s first start as Iowa’s quarterback comes with a brutal introduction: No. 18 Michigan, at Michigan Stadium, in front of more than 107,000 fans.
For Brown, the assignment is as much about handling the setting as it is about handling the Wolverines. Iowa’s first Big Ten road game of the season lands in one of the loudest venues in the sport, and it will be the first time Brown takes the first snap of a collegiate game away from home.
Brown has already worked in intimidating places. He’s seen Kinnick Stadium at full volume and experienced what Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn can bring. But every college game he’s played at quarterback has come on his own field.
That changes now.
Head coach Kirk Ferentz officially gave Brown the job after Brown opened all three of Iowa’s nonconference games. In those outings, he threw for 473 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, added 34 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown, and was not sacked once.
“Ultimately you have to get out there and do something on the field, too,” Ferentz said of Brown following Iowa’s 55-0 win over UNI last week. “I think he's looked a little bit more comfortable with each outing. It wasn't perfectly smooth last week, but he did some really good things there, too, and just kept us in there where we could win the game in the fourth quarter.”
Now Brown has to carry that early momentum into a much harsher setting. His closest thing to a road test came against Missouri in the 2024 Music City Bowl, a neutral-site game, so Ann Arbor will be a different kind of challenge.
“I’m excited for the opportunity,” Brown said. “Ultimately, as an offense, whether it’s home or away, the crowd is different.
We’re going to do our best not to allow outside factors to dictate how we’re going to execute. We want to be the same, whether it’s home or away.”
The matchup also brings back a familiar problem for Iowa: Michigan has had its number on offense. The Hawkeyes haven’t been to Michigan Stadium since 2019, but the teams have also met twice in the Big Ten Championship game and Iowa hosted the Wolverines in 2022. Iowa has lost its last four games against Michigan.
Scoring has been a struggle in those meetings, too. Iowa has found the end zone only twice over the last four games against Michigan, and both of those touchdowns came in 2022.
“Bottom line is it's just going to be a really tough challenge at all levels,” Ferentz said Tuesday. “Good players, well-coached, play hard, and we'll have our work cut out. So big challenge.”
Iowa has already been preparing Brown for the noise. The Hawkeyes have been pumping crowd sound into practice, with speakers positioned not far behind where he takes reps. Brown said there’s only so much individual work that can be done for a situation like this, because no practice setup can fully copy the real thing.
What can’t be recreated, Ferentz said, is the emotional swing of a road game.
“What you can't duplicate is the emotions that take place. When things are going against you, it gets really crazy.
When it goes the other way, it can be a good thing,” Ferentz said. “But try to remind our guys, it's not noisy every snap typically, but when it is, you got to really be wired in and concentrate.
Again, it's tough to duplicate it. You can try, but it's not quite the same.”
Brown won the quarterback competition after months of battle and has already earned the confidence of Ferentz and the Iowa offense. The next step is proving it in the toughest place yet.
“It really gets down to everybody has to try to do the best they can and playing what their job is, their responsibility,” Ferentz said.
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It fits the family history, too. Jackson is the son of Fred Jackson, the former Coe College standout who went from unrecruited long shot to a nine-season NFL career with the Buffalo Bills, and Braeden followed a similarly determined path after a strong high school career as both a football player and track star. He chose to walk on at Iowa in part because of his fathers connection to the coaching staff, and performances like this only deepen the sense that the Hawkeyes may have found another name worth remembering. [Read more 🡒]
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The matchup itself brings the bigger challenge, of course, and Ferentz made clear that Iowa will need its defense locked in against a Michigan offense led by quarterback Bryce Underwood. For a Hawkeyes team trying to open conference play on solid footing, the combination of improved health and a stern test against a ranked opponent gives this week a little extra weight, even before the game kicks off. [Read more 🡒]