The Iowa Hawkeyes had six players sidelined ahead of their Friday night battle at UCLA.
Those unavailable Hawkeyes proved to be pivotal missing pieces during Iowa’s 20-17 loss at UCLA.
Without graduate quarterback Cade McNamara and redshirt freshman signal-caller Marco Lainez, Iowa had to turn to redshirt sophomore quarterback Jackson Stratton after junior quarterback Brendan Sullivan exited with an ankle injury.
After the loss, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz updated Sullivan’s injury status.
“Regarding Brendan, he’s got an ankle sprain, so hopefully we’ll know more next week, but hopefully not too bad,” Ferentz said.
Stratton converted a pair of key third downs with big throws to junior wide receiver Jacob Gill on his first series under center. The Colorado State transfer guided a 13-play, 61-yard touchdown drive on that first series.
But, he and the Hawkeyes went three-and-out on their next offensive possession.
Meanwhile, outside of Gill, the Hawkeyes’ offense could have used freshman wide receiver Reece Vander Zee and junior tight end Addison Ostrenga to add two more reliable pass catchers into the mix.
Ferentz was asked for and shared an injury update on McNamara, Vander Zee and Ostrenga following the loss to the Bruins.
“We think Addison’s got a chance, a realistic chance… it wouldn’t be next week, but the week after. Cade was able to do some exertion at the end of the week which is encouraging, so hopefully we’ll see what that looks like this week. Reece is a little bit more gray area, but, I mean, hopefully it’s improving, but we’ll see.
“If we were playing next Saturday, Addison couldn’t go, but I think it’s realistic maybe the week after,” Ferentz said.
Defensively, Iowa also played a large portion of the game without one of its defensive rocks. Fifth-year linebacker Jay Higgins was sidelined midway through.
“Yeah, he’s got a tissue issue, so we’ll know more next week. Same way. He tried to go, he went back in and then just watching him come off the field after that possession, I couldn’t imagine him covering on a pass. Hopefully it’s not too bad and hopefully we’ll get him back next ball game,” Ferentz said.
According to Pro Football Focus, Higgins saw just 35 snaps against UCLA.
Iowa (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) has a bye week upcoming and then will return to action on Nov. 23 at Maryland.
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