Kirk Ferentz reveals why Kaleb Brown did not play on Saturday

Kaleb Brown was nowhere to be found in Iowa’s 20-14 win over Purdue on Saturday. After the game, Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz only gave the media two words regarding Brown’s absence: “personal reasons.”

Brown is yet to be a significant contributor this season for the Hawkeyes. Although the 5-foot-10 wideout appeared in four games prior to Saturday, he has not recorded a reception this season. Brown’s only touches came in Iowa’s 41-10 blowout win over Western Michigan.

Brown recorded two carries for eight yards. His lackluster statistics are a shock to many Iowa fans. Brown transferred to Iowa this offseason after spending one season at Ohio State. In a crowded wide receiver room, Brown was only able to record one catch during his true freshman season, going for five yards.

Nonetheless, Brown boasts potential. Brown played high school football at Chicago (IL) St. Rita, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 107 overall recruit in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.

Iowa gets it done without Kaleb Brown

Brown’s potential was not needed in Iowa’s win on Saturday. Despite recording 52 less yards than the Boilermakers, Iowa squeezed out a six-point win. In the triumph, the Hawkeyes relied heavily on their ground game, tallying 181 rushing yards for 5.2 yards a carry.

Although the win wasn’t pretty, Ferentz was happy with the victory.

“Happy to get the win. It was hard-fought, obviously Big Ten play, it’s going to be that way each and every week and we certainly anticipated that,” Ferentz said. “We came into today with a lot of respect for Purdue. Tough defense to move the ball against and do some things and then their offense had really been looking good.

“Proud of our guys in all phases. Certainly a lot to clean up, a lot to play for and I just told them to enjoy the win. Hopefully, we grew a little bit today and we still have plenty of room for improvement, that’s obvious. We’ll worry about that tomorrow, but right now happy to get the win and get a Big Ten win, that’s always a good thing.”

With the win, Iowa increases its conference record to 2-1. It’s only loss was a 31-0 defeat at the hands of Penn State in its Big Ten season opener. The Hawkeyes will look to expand their streak next weekend. On Saturday, Iowa will square off against Wisconsin at 4 p.m. ET.