Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz revealed on Tuesday that both graduate quarterback Cade McNamara and junior quarterback Brendan Sullivan are back practicing ahead of the Hawkeyes’ Friday date versus Nebraska in their regular season finale.
Still, Ferentz confirmed that walk-on-redshirt sophomore quarterback Jackson Stratton remains Iowa’s starter headed into Friday versus the Huskers.
McNamara has been sidelined since suffering a concussion during Iowa’s 40-14 win over Northwestern on Oct. 26. Sullivan replaced McNamara as the Hawkeyes’ quarterback following McNamara’s injury and started an Iowa win over Wisconsin on Nov. 2.
Sullivan also started in the Hawkeyes’ 20-17 loss on Nov. 8 at UCLA. Sullivan exited that contest with an ankle injury and hasn’t played since.
“Seems to be feast or famine. We had all three guys out there last two days. They both look good. The guys that haven’t been in there, Cade and Brendan, are both practicing. An interesting dynamic.
“Went from Max White being No. 2 to he’s been pushed out to the No. 4. He’s not real happy right now. He’s done a great job. Real credit to him. He’s been a great team player for us,” Ferentz said of his team’s quarterback situation.
Ferentz said both McNamara and Sullivan look good physically, but that Iowa is still sorting out which of the two will serve as the Hawkeyes’ backup quarterback against the Huskers.
“So far so good. Obviously there’s some skepticism yesterday from me going to practice. But he’s handling everything well. He looks good. We’ll see how it goes this week.
“It’s a tight week. We don’t have a lot of practice time on the field. Cade looks fine. Keep our fingers crossed that both of them will be ready to go, then we’ll figure out the batting order going from there,” Ferentz said.
Stratton performed well in Iowa’s 29-13 win at Maryland last week. The 6-foot-4, 193 pound quarterback completed 10-of-14 passes for 76 yards in his first career start.
Ferentz said the hope is that Stratton can take Iowa start to finish against Nebraska.
“I hope it’s one start to finish and everything goes really well. I mean, but sometimes that’s wishful thinking.
“We’re not planning on any rotation. It’s only Tuesday right now. We have some talking to do as a staff. I don’t foresee that right now. I think we’re going to try to go start to finish. We’ll end up doing what’s best for the team in our opinion, what’s going to give us the best chance to win here,” Ferentz said.
If Iowa does have to turn to either McNamara or Sullivan, the Hawkeyes have an experienced pair of quarterbacks waiting in the wings.
In eight games and eight starts this season, McNamara has completed 60.5% of his passes for 1,017 yards and six touchdowns against five interceptions. Sullivan has completed 68.6% of his passes this season for 344 yards with a pair of touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.
Kickoff on Friday, Nov. 29 against Nebraska is set for 6:30 p.m. CT with the game televised on NBC from inside Kinnick Stadium.
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