Cade McNamara's Brutal Struggles Continue For Iowa vs. Minnesota

Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Cade McNamara had a miserable first half against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Sep 21, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Cade McNamara (12) takes a snap against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first half at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The voices calling to bench Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Cade McNamara may be getting louder.

McNamara put forth another miserable showing during the first half of Iowa's matchup with the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday night, going 7-for-13 with 16 yards.

Not surprisingly, the Hawkeyes' offense struggled along with McNamara, managing just seven points over the first 30 minutes.

In his first three games of the season, McNamara threw for 526 yards, three touchdowns and a couple of interceptions while completing 63.9 percent of his passes.

Things did not look much better for McNamara in the first half against Minnesota. As a matter of fact, an argument can be made that he looked worse.

McNamara transferred to Iowa from the Michigan Wolverines in December 2022. There was plenty of hype surrounding the signal-caller at the time, but he tore his ACL five games into his debut campaign at Iowa City.

During his time on the field last year, McNamara totaled 505 yards, four touchdowns and three picks, completing a meager 51.1 percent of his throws.

There was hope that McNamara would display improvement in 2024, and to be fair, there is still plenty of time for the senior to turn things around.

However, he certainly has not gotten off to a very impressive start, and the Hawkeyes are just getting into Big Ten conference play now.

Luckily, Iowa has running back Kaleb Johnson, who has been one of the most explosive weapons in the nation through September and has carried the Hawkeyes' offense.