With less than a month until the college football season, the Big Ten is getting ready to go for a fourth-straight national championship. Despite those high expectations, there are still quarterback questions hanging over the conference.
The Big Ten is a conference with several elite returning quarterbacks. Their jobs are secure. There are also a few teams that spent a lot of money on transfers who look ordained as the starters. Still, there are several quarterback competitions underway around the conference.
So, it’s worth taking time to look at some of the quarterback competitions around the Big Ten.
Even when Iowa is competing for Big Ten Championships, it can feel like the quarterback is an afterthought. Of course, in an ideal world, they’d have a reliable signal caller who can also act as a game changer when they need them to.
So, the battle to replace Mark Gronowski is on. Jeremy Hecklinski and Hank Brown are the candidates Iowa is going to keep an eye on. Hecklinski is in his third college season and his second at Iowa, but he’s only thrown two passes in games. Brown, meanwhile, comes into his fourth season and had more of a leash in the past than Hecklinski has had, who started two games at Auburn in 2024.
In one of the biggest moves of the offseason, Nebraska lost starting quarterback Dylan Raiola in the transfer portal. This put Matt Rhule in a tough spot. Of course, with that also comes some opportunity to find a spark.
UNLV transfer Anthony Colandrea is the favorite to win the job. However, he does have some competition. Last season’s backup, TJ Lateef, would love to take over full-time. He even has some experience, starting four games and throwing for 904 yards and five touchdowns while rushing for another four in that time. Even Daniel Kaelin, an under-the-radar transfer, could make some noise in this battle, though.
Looking to get back to a bowl game after missing out on one in 2025, Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano is going to need to find a new quarterback to replace starter Athan Kaliakmanis. That’s something he’s indicated he’d like to do sooner rather than later.
The first main candidate for Rutgers is AJ Surace. Now in his third season, he played in three games a season ago for Rutgers, throwing two touchdowns on nine pass attempts. Then, there’s experienced transfer Dylan Lonergan. He’s played at Alabama and Boston College, including being the Boston College starter, where he threw for 2,025 yards and 12 touchdowns in 10 games.
It’s time to put up or get out of town for Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell. The results simply haven’t been there since he’s taken over, and a major reason why comes down to not finding the right quarterback to run the offense.
Old Dominion transfer Colton Joseph is considered the likely starter. However, nothing is given just yet. On top of that, given how hot his seat is, you can expect Fickell to have a quick trigger. Danny O’Neil is back and brings experience from last season with him. Then, Deuce Adams is a promising young transfer. So, this may last throughout the season.
