The ANF guys in first 10 minutes really describe Heck's bad play and benching

FanInBlack · Thursday at 11:07 PM

Heck might be like Doug Flutie. A unorthodox spark plug backup. Hard to game plan for last minute but once you have film easy to exploit.

Bierhalter2 · 2026-10-30T07:03:14-0500

Hawk48 said:
It is amazing that Iowa cannot find a functional and decent QB year after year. Makes zero sense to me.

The things that the Iowa coaches expect their QBs to do (or, more importantly, not do) make the situation more understandable, when you consider that practically no other P4 school would be asking both Brown and Hecklinski to play tight and mistake-free. I dare say both players would be better served at a school that would allow them to simply go out and play, rather than think too much.

I've seen other people asking why there haven't been many designed QB runs or improvised scrambles this season. Seriously, that's easy. It's because the QBs are being coached to not do that.

Burgers · 2026-10-30T07:06:11-0500

Kceasthawk@77 said:
Again purely STUPID comment, tainted with agenda. (shocking coming from you). Hank stepped up attempting to throw and was hit from behind as his arm was going forward. It was basically a fumble as he was being sacked but his arm was going forward. Try actually watching what happened and turn down the rhetoric. For the record his other "interception" was right in RVZ's hand and he bobbled the ball and the defender caught it.

100%. I have been Team Heck, but Heck probably should have had 2 or 3 INTs while Brown probably shouldn’t have had any. Brown absolutely played better than Heck against Minnesota.

And I think everyone’s reaction after Washington was too strong. The offense was on fire, and made the QB’s job very easy. Brown would have put up the same numbers.

We have two QBs that can play well when it is easy. But neither is a difference maker - they are average at best.

Ferentz has gone out of his way to mention that Sullivan has closed the gap with the top two, but I doubt he sees any meaningful action this year.

Obviously it’s very frustrating, because this team could be a legitimate contender with a good QB. We actually have some good WRs to throw to this year, but the passing game still cannot get it done.

Kceasthawk@77 · 2026-10-30T07:20:19-0500

FanInBlack said:
Heck might be like Doug Flutie. A unorthodox spark plug backup. Hard to game plan for last minute but once you have film easy to exploit.

I'm sorry, what? Doug Flutie, easy to exploit once you have him on film? I would imagine they had enough film on him as he started 4 years in college. The guy who won the Heisman, Maxwell, and Davey Obrien awards as a senior and threw for almost 11,000yds at BC? Jees, if only Lester knew we had the next Doug Flutie.

Ozzie89 · 2026-10-30T08:25:41-0500

HawksRule73 said:
I thought Heck played pretty good right up to the interception. Then you could tell, based on his body language and just the look on his face, that he couldn't flush it. There's a reason he was like 7 of his first 8 then was like 1 for 8 after that. He just hasn't developed the requisite maturity needed to play QB at the major college level. I like his enthusiasm and when he's on, he's pretty good. But when he's off, boy, the wheels just fall off completely. I'm guessing that's what the coaches have been seeing in practice as well.

That int on the goal line. If he just reads the LB and gives to the RB instead of pulling it, Iowa probably scores. It was blocked pretty well inside.

Hawk48 · 2026-10-30T08:35:18-0500

Bierhalter2 said:
The things that the Iowa coaches expect their QBs to do (or, more importantly, not do) make the situation more understandable, when you consider that practically no other P4 school would be asking both Brown and Hecklinski to play tight and mistake-free. I dare say both players would be better served at a school that would allow them to simply go out and play, rather than think too much.

I've seen other people asking why there haven't been many designed QB runs or improvised scrambles this season. Seriously, that's easy. It's because the QBs are being coached to not do that.

I agree the only common denominator is Ferentz, so......

FanInBlack · 2026-10-30T09:40:05-0500

Kceasthawk@77 said:
I'm sorry, what? Doug Flutie, easy to exploit once you have him on film? I would imagine they had enough film on him as he started 4 years in college. The guy who won the Heisman, Maxwell, and Davey Obrien awards as a senior and threw for almost 11,000yds at BC? Jees, if only Lester knew we had the next Doug Flutie.

Doug Flutie in NFL is what I meant. sorry

HAWKNESS · 2026-10-30T10:36:25-0500

Burgers said:
100%. I have been Team Heck, but Heck probably should have had 2 or 3 INTs while Brown probably shouldn’t have had any. Brown absolutely played better than Heck against Minnesota.

And I think everyone’s reaction after Washington was too strong. The offense was on fire, and made the QB’s job very easy. Brown would have put up the same numbers.

We have two QBs that can play well when it is easy. But neither is a difference maker - they are average at best.

Ferentz has gone out of his way to mention that Sullivan has closed the gap with the top two, but I doubt he sees any meaningful action this year.

Obviously it’s very frustrating, because this team could be a legitimate contender with a good QB. We actually have some good WRs to throw to this year, but the passing game still cannot get it done.

The one off Vander Zee completely agree. It was actually a good throw too.

The first one before half I thought was a terrible play by Hank and also a terrible play call. It kind of went under the radar because of all the other mistakes. Iowa was well within Buhrs range albeit not a gimme. on 3rd and 10 with approximately 15 seconds on the clock and no timeouts we were trying to dump it off to Mcneil for the 3rd consecutive time. That ball has to be thrown behind a wrs shoulder out of bounds and take the fg attempt. What happens if Mcneil catches it? There's not enough time to run fg unit out. You can't spike it. It was bad decision to run essentially same play and then Hank made it worse by panicking.

uihawk82 · 2026-10-30T11:34:56-0500

HAWKNESS said:
The one off Vander Zee completely agree. It was actually a good throw too.

The first one before half I thought was a terrible play by Hank and also a terrible play call. It kind of went under the radar because of all the other mistakes. Iowa was well within Buhrs range albeit not a gimme. on 3rd and 10 with approximately 15 seconds on the clock and no timeouts we were trying to dump it off to Mcneil for the 3rd consecutive time. That ball has to be thrown behind a wrs shoulder out of bounds and take the fg attempt. What happens if Mcneil catches it? There's not enough time to run fg unit out. You can't spike it. It was bad decision to run essentially same play and then Hank made it worse by panicking.

I agree, I thought we had a timeout left and I still thought we should have ran it because Minny was playing back in prevent. But if no timeouts yes try to throw it quick and wide to go OB and get a few yards. There was a breeze behind the hawks at that time and Buhr could have hit it.

Coaching mistake there because even a rollout or fake run bootleg lets the QB run or throw it out of bounds or to a receiver who goes out of bounds.

WeBeHerkin · 2026-10-30T12:30:16-0500

DukeSlater said:
And yet it was Brown who had a "pass" intercepted by a lineman . . . or someone standing about a yard in front of him.

Why did we even have a receiver running in middle of field. We had no timeouts. Routes should have all been sideline or end zone on that play. 14 seconds left and needed a chunk for a first down.

LetsGoHawks83 · 2026-10-30T12:50:32-0500

Jonesy5960 said:
A big problem with Heck is that he lacks arm talent. This is supposed to be the year with Diaz that the vertical passing game comes alive and Heck can't make those throws. You saw that early against Minnesota where the pass to Diaz on the post was probably 5 yards short of where it needed to be without really any air under it.

THIS. I'm not an arm talent expert, but when the ANF guys say that Heck put "everything he had" into a throw and couldn't get it there..... We have a problem.

Does that lack of arm strength also explain the miss on Diaz in the middle of the field? He threw it incredibly flat and hard. Get some touch on that throw, a little more air on it and let Diaz run under it, especially when you can lead Diaz away from the defender. Worst case Diaz has to slow down a touch and gets tackled.

The RedZone turnover just can't happen. Didn't read the RPO... AT ALL. The ANF guys called that out... He was planning on throwing the TD pass there, not reading the defense.

All for "gunslingers", but that doesn't mean ignoring reads

LetsGoHawks83 · 2026-10-30T12:55:59-0500

HAWKNESS said:
The one off Vander Zee completely agree. It was actually a good throw too.

The first one before half I thought was a terrible play by Hank and also a terrible play call. It kind of went under the radar because of all the other mistakes. Iowa was well within Buhrs range albeit not a gimme. on 3rd and 10 with approximately 15 seconds on the clock and no timeouts we were trying to dump it off to Mcneil for the 3rd consecutive time. That ball has to be thrown behind a wrs shoulder out of bounds and take the fg attempt. What happens if Mcneil catches it? There's not enough time to run fg unit out. You can't spike it. It was bad decision to run essentially same play and then Hank made it worse by panicking.

I have no issue with how Hank played that... No timeouts left, so he CAN'T take the sack. He tried to just dump the ball off. 9 times out of 10... That ball isn't intercepted. And we try the long FG.

His only other option was to take the sack, which everyone would have DESTROYED him for... "You can't take a sack there!".

TrojanHawkeye · 2026-10-30T13:38:23-0500

Hawk48 said:
It is amazing that Iowa cannot find a functional and decent QB year after year. Makes zero sense to me.

I'll take coaching for $1000 Alex

Kceasthawk@77 · 2026-10-30T14:52:56-0500

FanInBlack said:
Doug Flutie in NFL is what I meant. sorry

Obviously Fluties size REALLY hampered him in the league. Still he was in the league 12 years, so.....

Jonesy5960 · 2026-10-30T15:50:29-0500

LetsGoHawks83 said:
I have no issue with how Hank played that... No timeouts left, so he CAN'T take the sack. He tried to just dump the ball off. 9 times out of 10... That ball isn't intercepted. And we try the long FG.

His only other option was to take the sack, which everyone would have DESTROYED him for... "You can't take a sack there!".

Yeah. He tried to do the only thing he could given the pressure and the time on the clock, which was to throw it away, but he just couldn't get the ball out over that lineman.

Burgers · 2026-10-30T16:17:58-0500

HAWKNESS said:
The one off Vander Zee completely agree. It was actually a good throw too.

The first one before half I thought was a terrible play by Hank and also a terrible play call. It kind of went under the radar because of all the other mistakes. Iowa was well within Buhrs range albeit not a gimme. on 3rd and 10 with approximately 15 seconds on the clock and no timeouts we were trying to dump it off to Mcneil for the 3rd consecutive time. That ball has to be thrown behind a wrs shoulder out of bounds and take the fg attempt. What happens if Mcneil catches it? There's not enough time to run fg unit out. You can't spike it. It was bad decision to run essentially same play and then Hank made it worse by panicking.

Hank said he was trying to throw it at McNeil's feet, which was the smart play given the position he was in. His arm got hit as he released, which caused it to go short to the defender just a couple feet away, and that defender made a great play. That ball gets caught maybe 5% of the time.

You are correct that if it is completed to McNeil, the half ends without getting a FG attempt. Also agree it was a bad play call. They should have designed it as a rollout to make it easier for Hank to get toss it out of bounds if nobody was open.

gojojo · 2026-10-30T17:13:29-0500

Ozzie89 said:
Be interesting to see if KF pulls Brown early if he struggles mightily, like Heck last week. We all know he probably wont. Heck's basically got one full game( played well at Washington) and benched.

I’m sorry, but that UW game is a mirage.

It’s not hard to complete passes to receivers when no defender is within 10 yards.

gojojo · 2026-10-30T17:25:10-0500

Grayhair1981 said:
Slightly-above-average at what level? Iowa 4A HS?

The kid as CCA has a much better arm than Heck.

FanInBlack · 2026-10-30T21:52:49-0500

Kceasthawk@77 said:
Obviously Fluties size REALLY hampered him in the league. Still he was in the league 12 years, so.....

he was. he was a gamer..but if the other team could game plan him he struggled. That was

his career in the NFL.

The ANF guys in first 10 minutes really describe Heck's bad play and benching

All-American

Redshirt

Sophomore

All-American

All-Conference

All-Conference

All-American

Senior

All-Conference

All-American

All-American

All-American

All-Conference

All-American

Heisman

Sophomore

All-Conference

All-Conference

All-American