The ray of sunshine (in more ways than one) that was Iowa football's season-opening victory over Northern Illinois has nearly flatlined. 

Hawkeye fans were certainly pleased with the dominant 40-0 victory, but by the following Monday, their attention usually turns to the next game. That's a valid statement considering all eyes are now on a primetime Week 2 showdown against in-state rival Iowa State. 

HawkeyeRoundtable.com is about to join in and devote the rest of the week to previewing the Cyclones, but before we can do that, it's time to share three questions that still linger after the Northern Illinois triumph. 

This is the obvious question. Hank Brown was clearly the better quarterback on Saturday, but was his performance convincing enough for Kirk Ferentz to rip the Band-Aid off and give him the full-time job? Who knows. Any possible conclusion Ferentz will have won't come to light until his Tuesday press conference, but as I wrote earlier in the week, it may be beneficial for Iowa to have its full-time starter heading into this Iowa State. 

Why? I'll probably elaborate more on this later in the week, but the Cyclones are good enough to pull off the upset in Kinnick Stadium if you allow them to. Jimmy Rogers is a good defensive coach, and though making him prepare for two quarterbacks could help the Hawkeyes, it could be risky to continue the rotation. All of the pressure is going to be on Iowa in this game, and rolling with a full-time starter may help relieve some of it.

Tony Diaz couldn't asked for a better Hawkeye debut on Saturday. Everyone, including Ferentz himself, was high on Diaz in the offseason, and the third-year wide receiver lived up to it on Saturday. He collected 84 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions - the most yards by an Iowa wideout since Jacob Gill tallied 138 against UCLA in 2024. 

There's no question that Diaz has the ability to be a lethal weapon in the passing game, but he did leave a lot of good tape for opposing coaches to try and figure out a way to stop him. It wouldn't be surprising to see Iowa State put two corners on Diaz to slow him down, so how will Diaz manage that? Will he find a way to break through the secondary anyway, or will the Hawkeyes have to rely on another wide receiver to step up?

Kamari Moulton's impressive numbers on the ground helped take the attention away from what could potentially be a serious blow to this Iowa offense. Highly-anticipated transfer L.J. Phillips was injured early in the first half of this one and didn't return. Big Ten Network replays showed the fourth-year back get tangled up on a tackle, with later field reports from local television reporters observing Phillips wearing a boot on the sidelines. 

Ferentz called the injury a lower leg injury after the game and said they won't find out more information for another few days. That would align with his Tuesday presser, so we'll see what comes out of it. 

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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at [email protected]