Press conference at 1:45
- Thread starter squeezebox_1
- Start date
Probably not, but would you like to place a wager on what topic the first questions are about?
We will not. It will be a game-time decision. Both will play. Probably three will play, including Sullivan.
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So whoever has the best warmup on Saturday...Sounds logical
Crazy talk right before a game. RPS takes too long. Simple coin flip decides the issue.Kirk Ferentz and Tim Lester, 5 minutes before kickoff:
It’s absurd. Both QBs haven’t been told who will start and both think they have a good chance to start.
How can you run a P4 top-25 program like this nowadays?
If I’m Northern Illinois I’m coming into Kinnick with a ton of confidence. Solely because of the QB situation. Do what SDsU did a few years ago. Literally 9 guys in the box, 1-1 on outside and see if either of these guys can make a forward pass.
How can you run a P4 top-25 program like this nowadays?
If I’m Northern Illinois I’m coming into Kinnick with a ton of confidence. Solely because of the QB situation. Do what SDsU did a few years ago. Literally 9 guys in the box, 1-1 on outside and see if either of these guys can make a forward pass.
If only the offense was different from 4 years ago
I guess being one of four programs to win 8+ every year for the last decade joining Ohio state, bama, Georgia at the top is how you run a program. Oh yea and putting 100+ players in the league.
“Both players are performing well and battling and it will be a game time decision”
Cue board meltdown, grab your popcorn folks.
If it’s as close as they say I think playing both guys is the right move. But not letting the team know who gets the first drive or how they will rotate them at the beginning of game week is a confusing choice to me.
Maybe this is all a team wide psyop to **** with NIU. Maybe we’re even playing 5D chess trying to **** with Iowa State.
Cue board meltdown, grab your popcorn folks.
If it’s as close as they say I think playing both guys is the right move. But not letting the team know who gets the first drive or how they will rotate them at the beginning of game week is a confusing choice to me.
Maybe this is all a team wide psyop to **** with NIU. Maybe we’re even playing 5D chess trying to **** with Iowa State.
I don't know how absurd it is. They just haven't had the confidence in either QB to name them the starter.
It's a completely different offense from several years ago, but your point is still valid. It's the same strategy that has been used against Iowa with great success for the last 10 years or so. Everyone in the stadium knows that Iowa wants to run the ball and has struggled to throw it. We'll see if this year is any different. If Iowa QB's can't complete passes efficiently this Saturday, it's likely not.
Right. I guess my point is I’m not sure it matters how good or different the offense is under Lester, if you don’t have a solid (at least) QB then I don’t think Iowa has a high ceiling at all. And maybe one or both is good enough to lead the offense. Would be a nice surprise. But if KF doesn’t yet have enough confidence at this point t then it’s a huge red flag. Especially since it’s the 2nd year for both guys working with Lester’s offense.
It all depends on the game plan. The threat this year isn't the lateral threat they had with Wetjen, but what is yet to be determined is how much either of these QBs can run. Hank, did not throw well on kids day, but the legs/size are there that he could be a competitive runner. If they cannot effectively run that style of offense depending on the QB and James as a lateral threat, then they need to progress the deep threat game to get the WRs vertical, and from kids day, Heck has a nice touch on dropping dimes. I am sure the turnover threat is there, but it also is going to depend on which style works best for the skill players and the line play.
I'm sure this press conference will be as earth-shattering as just about every other one....
www.on3.com
QB Battle: Jeremy Hecklinski appears to have passed Hank Brown on the Depth Chart. QB was NOT a Transfer Portal Priority per KF on Dec 18 - Page 11
Dec 18, 2025 UPDATE: In Thursday, Dec 18th's press conference, Kirk said that he’ll “never say never,” but it sounds like QB will not be a priority in the transfer portal. ORIGINAL POST (on Oct 12, 2025) Jeremy Hecklinski appears to have passed Hank Brown on the Depth Chart.
Assuming this will be a "paint drying" presser......maybe some insights on a few other players besides QB? Who knows. Making some coffee to keep me awake.
It's hilarious, really. Most years, fans are ticked off at Kirk because he gets locked into one QB and seemingly refuses to consider a change.
This year, he appears to be staying open-minded, at least into the first game. And fans are labeling it "absurd."
Some folks just want a reason to b!tch, I guess.
Question: If a tree falls down in the forest, and nobody is around to hear it, is it still because of something Kirk Ferentz did wrong?
This year, he appears to be staying open-minded, at least into the first game. And fans are labeling it "absurd."
Some folks just want a reason to b!tch, I guess.
Question: If a tree falls down in the forest, and nobody is around to hear it, is it still because of something Kirk Ferentz did wrong?
Per Kirk: No decision has been made yet for the game.
Looks like we won't be seeing who starts until they literally trot out on the first series on Saturday.
Looks like we won't be seeing who starts until they literally trot out on the first series on Saturday.
Since when has KF been "logical" in choosing a QB? And no one should forget KF is the guy who looked around the country and decided the best OC and QB coach out there was his own son.
italics were there for a reason. He did say hopefully by tomorrow they will have it ironed out, but we certainly won't know.
And WE need to know why? I'm being serious.
Walk ONS in their 4th and 5th year. Not unusual. We've had guys come in as walk ONS before who had solid careers and even pro careers.
Come on sycophant. No other Top 25 team is in this QB situation. KF gets a pass for this cause he’s folksy.
it’s not complicated. Be a program that has CFp aspirations. Clean up your QB room and get a dude. Not a rotational “hope for the best.l
"WE" don't need to know. But some people think it's helpful if the QBs and their team know what's going on before the games begin. But it's just a theory.
KF said today “It will be like a pitch count. 2-3 possessions and then a change.”
its ridiculous. Treating regular season college football game(s) like an audition. With no opportunity to build momentum. 2 guys who’ve been in the program with Lester for 2 years.
It’s also overlooking Northern Illinois completely.
its ridiculous. Treating regular season college football game(s) like an audition. With no opportunity to build momentum. 2 guys who’ve been in the program with Lester for 2 years.
It’s also overlooking Northern Illinois completely.
And I would say Iowa has been at their best when they've been able to field a team with some of those overlooked, undervalued program guys in year 4 or 5.
If Iowa were playing the nonconference schedules Hayden Fry usually played--opening with #6 Nebraska, then ISU, then #7 UCLA, for example--this QB thing might be a bigger concern. But that's not the case. KF doesn't play that kind of schedule. He has NIU, ranked in the bottom ten in the country, then a rebuilding ISU, then FCS UNI. Just a tad different situation.
So when neither QB has won the job, letting them fight it out in real games, albeit against low-level opponents, seems like the right and fair thing to do. But it probably would be nice to have a clear #1 QB before the Hawkeyes show up in Ann Arbor.
They are projected at 3.5 wins, 4 returning starters, and a new coach....
Reporter: Who is going to start at quarterback this week coach?
KF: We'll both find out together on Saturday....Snort
KF: We'll both find out together on Saturday....Snort
Yes, and Iowa is a 30+ point favorite. It would take a monumental effort to lose to this NIU team. It would be one of the greatest upsets in college football history.
Definitely. But i think fans might be assuming easy wins the 1st 3 games. Iowa State is still a P4 school and Iowa offensively has been putrid against them the last few games.
I think it’s a major mistake to treat any regular season game as a preseason game especially to figure out your QB situation. You’re playing with fire early. But I guess that’s where tge Hawks are currently.
It’s disappointing to be in this situation given Iowas overall roster.
It would take a momental effort to lose this game, but early spreads are a joke, NIU was a 28.5 underdog against ND in 2024, and walked away with a W at ND.
Bro, come on. Albany last year, was more than a shaky start. Both NIU and UNI will not be able to stop the run. There was never any risk in losing that game.
You are correct. But I believe this NIU team will be one of its worst in recent memory. But that doesn't mean a win is automatic, as Notre Dame found out. And, of course, many of us well remember Iowa being forced to block TWO FGs to beat UNI 17-16 not so long ago in a game UNI deserved to win. That Iowa team was filled with future NFL stars, so your point is valid.
Maybe Eyes was right all along and fans really are stupid?
No.
But the way KF has handled the quarterback position, during the entirety of KF’s head coaching career… is KF’s fault.
My theory, and I’m sure yall will correct me if I’m wrong, is that KF is a control freak, and due to the unavoidable importance of the quarterback position in football: you’re putting so much of your teams success or failure on the shoulders of one approximately 21 year old young man… I can see how a control freak would prefer that that not be the way it is…
But that’s the way it is Kirk.
No matter how good Lester is, if Iowa has FCS level QBs then no game is automatic. And we have no idea if either of these guys can play at this level. Crazy going into the season.
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