Iowa fan simulates Hawkeyes quarterback battle via NCAA Football showdown

One Iowa fan set out to see how the Spencer Petras-Alex Padilla quarterback battle would play out in an NCAA Football simulation.

While it may have been the bye week, fans still got their weekly dose of Iowa football, and this time the Hawkeyes literally couldn’t lose their game.

Fueled by Iowa fans raising $600 for the UI Children’s Hospital and Hurricane Ian relief in Florida, Twitter user Cody Hills (@ByCodyHills) booted up the old NCAA Football video game and set out to find who truly would lead Iowa the best. Could he answer Brian Ferentz’s question about the upside of starting Alex Padilla?

The premise was simple enough. Iowa’s roster was imported with both teams featuring the same usual starting lineups. Team Padilla donned the white away uniforms, Team Petras rocking the black and gold.

Petras won the toss, and like Matt Hasselbeck, said he wanted the ball and was going to score. Of course, Petras was intercepted on his first pass of the simulation. Ouch. The senior starter would be picked off by the Iowa defense three times. Cornerback Riley Moss would actually pick off both quarterbacks, while safeties Kaevon Merriweather and Quinn Schulte caused the other two Petras turnovers.

We might have to question where video game Drew Stevens’ loyalty lies. The kicker made both of his kicks for Team Padilla, but missed his lone attempt for Team Petras. I’d call shenanigans, but a 55-yarder is a tall task to ask of the freshman. We found out his maximum range at least, not even coming close to connecting on the long attempt.

Overall, yeah, it wasn’t pretty for either quarterback. Petras finished 18-of-31 passing in the 27-14 loss, throwing three picks to only one touchdown. Alex Padilla had a much better completion percentage at 78%, completing 18-of-23 passes, but he did not throw a single touchdown. Neither quarterback threw for over 200 yards.

The main takeaway? Whether it is in real life or in a video game simulation, the Ferentz offense still doesn’t work! Both passing games were atrocious, and no match for a stout Hawkeyes defense. At least Kaleb Johnson looked good running the ball.

If we are going off of video game logic, which seems pretty sound to me, Padilla offers the benefit of game management. He didn’t make nearly the same mistakes Petras did in this game, and it should be noted that Petras has more picks than touchdowns this season.

Either way, boy, the offense is in trouble no matter who is at the helm. Even a video game about as outdated as the Iowa offensive scheme can tell you that.

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