The biggest story surrounding the Iowa Hawkeyes this week has been the news that Brendan Sullivan was named the starting quarterback.
Coming in a close second is Iowa confirming that Cade McNamara will be out this Saturday due to a concussion he suffered in the second quarter of Iowa’s win over Northwestern.
With McNamara sidelined, Iowa’s quarterback depth chart looks drastically different than it has all year. Head coach Kirk Ferentz detailed what a backup plan for Brendan Sullivan looks like with the remaining quarterbacks rostered, redshirt freshman Marco Lainez and sophomore Jackson Stratton.
“Yeah, that’s really who’s left, and I won’t tell you who number four is right now and I hope you never find out. With all due respect, it’s a guy who played high school quarterback.
“But we’re basically out of guys. James Resar has moved to receiver and unfortunately he sustained an injury last week, so it’s a little bit ironic that all of a sudden it’s a thin pool. But we’ll go with the guys we got and find a way,” Ferentz said about the quarterback depth.
Lainez saw action for the Hawkeyes last year in mop-up duty for their bowl game against the Tennessee Volunteers. He was 2-of-7 passing for four yards, but he did showcase his mobility by running for 51 yards on six attempts.
Stratton, a transfer from Colorado State, joined Iowa as a walk-on heading into the 2024 season. He has not recorded any statistics for Iowa.
During his time at Colorado State, he was 4-of-17 for 78 yards with one touchdown against two interceptions.
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