IOWA CITY — Tim Lester hopes circumstances never force him to turn to open up the file. But the Iowa offensive coordinator had no choice but to turn to his file on backup quarterback Hank Brown on Saturday.
“I have each quarterback, one, two and three, fill out a form of their favorite plays,” Lester said on Tuesday. “I make my call sheet look like the starting quarterback, but I always keep them in a file. I hope I don’t ever have to open up that file, but I had to last week. I had to open it up and take Hank’s out just to see what his favorites were on the sheet.”
With starting quarterback Mark Gronowski out of the game due to a fourth-quarter injury, Brown, a transfer from Auburn, entered a pressure-packed environment as the Hawkeyes eyed an upset of Indiana. With the game tied 13-13, Lester explained how he handled the final three series with Brown under center.
“You try to call a game to make the kid comfortable,” Lester said. “… In the game, you really are just thinking: Where is he at mentally, and how can I make him comfortable? He ran some short passing game, some screens, just to try to get him calmed down.
“During a game, you really don’t change much of what you’re doing. You just are trying to keep him comfortable. Then we got into a two-minute situation. At that point you got to go. There’s only one way to go.”
All things considered, Lester felt Brown performed admirably under pressure.
“I’m sure he would tell you he wished he played better,” Lester said. “Everyone does. His feet were a little giddy.
“… I thought he did a good job. Missed a couple of things, but I’m sure he’s going to learn from it.
He also got us a couple of first downs, got us across the 50. We just got to finish that drive. We had a couple of chances. Sailed the last one a little high. The one before that he got a little bit confused. I wanted him to take a shot, and he didn’t, but that’s learning, right? It’s the first time in there, and he’s hungry, and it’s been good to see him out there today throwing it again.”
With 150 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground, Gronowski provides Iowa the extra advantage of forcing teams to account for him as both a passer and rusher.
The Hawkeyes do not lose the added element of a rushing quarterback when Brown enters the game. According to Lester, the two quarterbacks, one of whom reminds him of a former Heisman Trophy winner, simply use their legs in different ways.
“Hank is way more athletic than you think,” Lester said. “I think he’s a different style of runner. He’s more the edge guy than up the middle. (Brendan Sullivan) was more of an edge guy than up-the-middle guy.
“Mark is unique in that he does a good job keeping his shoulders square and working the A gaps, which (Tim) Tebow could do. Not a lot of guys can work the A gaps. Quarterbacks, at least.”
With Gronowski’s status for next week’s game against Wisconsin described as “cloudy,” Lester also emphasized the importance of Iowa’s bye week as an opportunity to get Brown and third-string quarterback Jeremy Hecklinski more looks in practice.
“It’s a huge week,” Lester said. “I can tell you this about Hank. Hank at the end of spring ball was really humming. (He) started a little bit slow this camp, and then really started pushing Mark at one point once his feet got back to comfortable again.
“Heck is a great little player now. He’s tough. He’s got a little swagger to him. He reminds me of when I played, like a little gun slinger. He’s aggressive.
“… It’s going to be a huge week for us just to let those guys get the reps.”
The Hawkeyes (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) go on the road to face the Badgers (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 6 p.m. with broadcast coverage provided by Fox Sports 1 and the Hawkeye Radio Network.
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Ethan Petrik is a University of Iowa beat writer for the Lee Enterprises network. Follow him on X or send him an email at ethan.petrik@wcfcourier.com.
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Ethan Petrik
University of Iowa Athletics Beat Reporter
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