Iowa Coach Discloses Major QB Injury Update

Iowa Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz has provided a significant injury update on this quarterback.

Oct 26, 2024; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Cade McNamara throws a pass against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first quarter at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

The Iowa Hawkeyes have made a change at quarterback, going from Cade McNamara to Brendan Sullivan.

While McNamara's performance was certainly the primary reason for the change (I mean, come on), Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz revealed in the lead up to last week's game against the Wisconsin Badgers that McNamara was dealing with a concussion.

Now, with the UCLA Bruins on tap for this Friday, Ferentz has disclosed that McNamara is still not fully healed from the injury.

“He will not be ready to go. Hopefully during the bye week we can get him up and running a little bit,” Ferentz said, via Matt McGowan of The Daily Iowan.

McNamara was benched midway through the Hawkeyes' win over the Northwestern Wildcats on Oct. 26. He had gone 7-for-13 with 73 yards and a pick-six before being replaced by Sullivan.

The 24-year-old began his collegiate career at Michigan in 2020 and spent three seasons with the Wolverines before transferring to Iowa in December 2022.

There were massive expectations for McNamara upon joining the Hawkeyes, but he failed to deliver, totaling 505 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions in five games before tearing his ACL during his debut campaign at Iowa City.

Then, in eight games this season, McNamara totaled 1,017 yards, six touchdowns and five picks while completing just 60.5 percent of his passes. He threw for under 100 yards in four of his starts.

Iowa's offense has certainly looked better under Sullivan. We will see if that continues as the Hawkeyes look to improve to 7-3 against UCLA.