Hank Brown

#9 · QB · 4th-year · Iowa6′4″ · 218 lb · Nashville, TN · Lipscomb Academy

ZPR5646th of 119 QBsLast gameW 30–0vs Wisconsin · Oct 31
Nextat NorthwesternSat Nov 7 · 7:30 pm ET

Started again vs Wisconsin, the first start since Ohio State, week 5.

W 30-0 vs No. 25 Wisconsin, Oct 31: 20 of 24 for 222 yards, 2 touchdowns · 4 carries for 11 yards.

Iowa’s next game: at Northwestern, Sat Nov 7, 7:30 p.m. ET · FOX

Iowa is 5-2 in the seven games played. A short-game passer who rarely runs.

Strongest: sacked on 4% of dropbacks, 39th lowest of 158 starters. Weakest: 7% of throws gain 20 or more yards, 18th lowest of 158 starters.

Passing yards

1,190

109 of 169, 64%

TD–INT

8–3

7.0 per throw

NCAA rating

135.7

73rd of 119

ZPR

56

46th of 119

How ZPR works

Up and down: great in 2, shaky or worse in 3.

  • 2-1 against ranked teams, 194 passing yards a game.

Best by our grade: Wisconsin. Lowest: Ohio State, with 1 interception and sacked 2 times. Biggest game: Ohio State, No. 5. Best play: Completion for 16 yards, touchdown, at Michigan, Q4 0:00. Win chance 9% to 100%.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

at Washington

W 41–24·Unranked

Did not play

Fortunately f------ around with Hank Brown didn’t cost Iowa any games, but … come on now, you can’t go back to him.

Iowa fan

Season

Fades after halftime

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Short-game passer

Also: yards after catch

Why this word
Runs2.1 a gameRarelyA lot
Throws7.3 yards past the lineShortDeep
Completes66% by play-by-playFewerMore
Takes sacks4% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws at a middling depth and rarely runs. 2.1 carries a game. Closest matches: Locke, Moss ’25, Raiola, McCown.

Where the throws go

Behind the line20%typical 17%
Short49%typical 47%
Middle18%typical 22%
Deep13%typical 14%

Runs 2.1 times a game; 82% of starters run more.

Closest in style

LockeMoss ’25RaiolaMcCownThis QB

Nearer the middle means more alike.

  • Locke Sam Houston · Balanced
    1,653 yards, 12 TD, 5 INT so far. Both hit few big plays and throw short.
  • Moss ’25 Louisville 2025 · Short-game passer
    2,679 yards, 16 TD, 7 INT. Both throw short and rarely run.
  • Raiola Oregon · Pocket passer
    1,097 yards, 9 TD, 2 INT so far. Both throw short and rarely run.
  • McCown UTSA · Rhythm passer
    1,751 yards, 10 TD, 4 INT so far. Both throw short and hit few big plays.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

  • RecordIowa is 6-2, No. 21 in the AP poll (week 10).
  • Fans after Wisconsin

    Goddamit. Bench Hank Brown. What are these passes

    Iowa fan

What’s being said

8 stories this week, from 10 outlets.

Oct 29: 2Oct 31: 3Nov 2: 1Nov 3: 2W 30-0 vs WisconsinWOct 29Nov 4Most in a day: 3
Oct 29: 2Oct 31: 3Nov 2: 1Nov 3: 2W 30-0 vs WisconsinWOct 29Nov 4Most in a day: 3
Stories per day. W and L: the team’s results.

All 106 stories this season

His most important play this season

  1. Q4, 0:00 · Iowa down 5, takes the leadHank Brown finds Reece Vander Zee for a 16-yard touchdownIowa at Michigan, week 4Q4, 0:00 · Iowa 20, Michigan 190:00Go-ahead touchdown for Iowa with 0:00 left0:00Go-ahead touchdown for Iowa with 0:00 leftGo-ahead touchdown for Iowa with 0:00 leftReece Vander Zee 16 yd pass from Hank BrownWatch from this play CBS Sports College Football

All 8 of his plays on video

Hank Brown

QB · Iowa · #9

Filling the Shoesas of Nov 4

Hank Brown takes over from Mark Gronowski at Iowa.

1,190passing yards8passing TD34rushing yards

Passing value per play

+0.39

our model · 2026 · 159 plays

Read the story so far

Hank Brown arrived as a 3-star prospect. Hank Brown lines up at QB for Iowa.

On the field, the headline is 1,190 pass yds, with 8 pass td.

Hank Brown inherited the QB job from Mark Gronowski.

The number to watch: +0.39 — passing value per play.

QB successionleap of faith
  • Inherited fromMark Gronowski

AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-11-04