After the first meaningful snaps of his Iowa career, Jeremy Hecklinski is still in wait-and-see mode on the quarterback battle. The third-year passer said Tuesday that the staff has not told him what the plan is for Saturday, and he’s handling the uncertainty the same way he says he handles everything else: one day at a time.
“No, they haven't said anything, so we've just been going through practice as usual.”
“We're just taking it a day at a time. You prepare the same way. You prepare as if you're the starter every day and just whatever happens on Saturday happens.”
Hecklinski’s first real action came against Northern Illinois, and he didn’t hide from the places he thinks he can be better. He said he got too amped up early, played a little too fast with his feet, and needs to settle down and trust his mechanics more.
“There are some things I've got to hit, and I think I was a little too quick with my feet. I was just excited and amped up to be in there. I need to slow down a little bit and just hit the throws.”
“It was my first time in Kinnick, getting real meaningful snaps and things like that. I was obviously super excited, but I feel like I calmed down as the game went on and just play my game and get in there and execute. Just trust the fallback of my fundamentals and trust my preparation for the game.”
One miss in particular is sticking with him: the throw to Tony on the sideline.
“The one to Tony on the sideline. ( Yeah, that one bugs me because I've hit it a million times and I know I can hit it, and it's just I should have hit it. That one's been the back of my mind, yeah.
He said he didn’t know exactly when he’d be sent back into the game, only that he was waiting for his number to be called.
“They were saying a couple drives or see how it goes or whatever it is, but you're really just sitting there waiting for your number to be called.”
Once he got a couple drives under his belt, the nerves eased.
“I definitely felt super comfortable after my first two drives. I'm just like, 'Hey, I'm in here.
I can do this. I know what I'm doing,' type of thing, and kind of all the anxiety went away.”
The upcoming Iowa State matchup is already on his mind, and Iowa has been studying a Cyclone defense with a different look than last year.
“They've got a lot of new guys and a new defense coordinator and stuff like that. So we've been watching a lot of their Washington State film and also when they played SEMO last week.”
Hecklinski also pointed to the advantage of playing this one in Kinnick.
“I think it will be big. I remember going to Iowa State last year and it was a pretty hostile environment, but it will be good to be in Kinnick for this one.”
He said the first snap he took was part of the script, and after that the game plan loosened up.
“My first play was scripted, and then after that it was kind of just call it. ... Having openers and things like that and things that you know you're going to run regardless of what's going on does help, but it really is just hand-in-hand.
It doesn't really matter, to be honest. It feels good to prepare for that opening drive and that opening script, but once you're out there, you're just playing ball.”
He also made it clear Iowa isn’t looking back at the run of success against Iowa State.
“We're a new team, and a lot of these guys haven't even played Iowa State, so we're not even worried about what's happened in the past. We're focused on this year.”
As for Tim Lester’s reaction to Saturday, Hecklinski said the message was positive.
“I mean, he said we did good. I know we both took a couple hits and stuff, and there was no adversity in a sense of like we were playing scared after that or anything like that. So I think in his head we did good.”
The freshman mistakes that came with the opener - especially drops - are part of the cleanup work now. Hecklinski said the group has to keep grinding through those issues, even if he was surprised by one of Reece Vander Zee’s drops.
“I think we're a young team, and being the first game, I think there's stuff that we're going to have to work through and figure out. I'm glad we didn't have a whole lot of procedural penalties or offsides and stuff like that, so that was good to see. But the drops and the missed throws and stuff, we'll work on that every day, and it's going to get better.'
“I was surprised when he dropped the one. That was a pretty good ball, I thought.
Right there. I could have given him a little bit higher of an angle, but I was surprised when he dropped that one.
He's a pretty sure-handed guy.”
Hecklinski also opened up about his off-field connection with Tony Diaz, saying the relationship helps when the offense gets back to work.
“I would say he's a bit of a goofball as well, like DJ. Him and Dayton are two of my good friends on the team.
We like to do a lot of things together. We kind of just put football to the side and just hang out as guys. ...
Yeah, it definitely helps your connection. The bond between quarterback and receivers is important.
To have that off-the-field relationship is really good.”
And he laughed off the moment DJ Vonnahme helped haul him up after a play.
“I was on top of one of their defenders, and he was trying to pick me up, and I was like, 'I don't want to step on the dude.' So he dragged me around him. ...
We were laughing on the field. He was laughing.
He came up to me after, and he was like, 'I was kind of just messing with you.'”
The red zone and goal line issues are next on the list. Hecklinski said the offense will study those situations closely, and he took responsibility for the missed chance near the end.
“We're going to go deep dive tomorrow in red zone. I haven't had a chance to look at what's scripted and stuff like that, just because we just finished today, but I'm going to dive into that today. ...
I'm excited to look and see what they got. I'm sure Ferentz and Coach Lester got something picked up.”
“I was off on a couple of my steps on my drop on that last one, so that kind of forced the defender a little closer to me than I would have liked. You want to get in there.
We're on the one-yard line. We've got to get in there.
It's unacceptable for me not to be able to get the team in there. Everyone's got to deal with the heat on a day like that, but footwork is so important.”
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