Iowa QB Cade McNamara Managing Injury

Hawkeye Signal Caller Dealing with Soreness Following Saturday's Opener

Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara enters the huddle during a game against Utah State on Sept. 2, 2023 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)

Cade McNamara probably has the most interesting quadricep in college football these days.

The Iowa quarterback, who injured his right quad during the Hawkeyes’ open scrimmage on August 12, made it through last Saturday’s 24-14 season-opening win over Utah State at Kinnick Stadium.

The strained muscle was achy, he said, but then again, that’s going to happen.

“It definitely felt sore after the game,” McNamara said Tuesday. “But so did the rest of my body.”

The quad has been a topic of conversation for a while — there was even a nonsensical social-media debate about whether McNamara was “questionable” for the season opener, a term that was confirmed when the pre-game injury report was sent out.

But the injury isn’t going to be something that goes away. So, heading into Saturday’s game at Iowa State, it was the subject of conversation again.

“I think it's just going to be something that we're just got to manage through,” McNamara said. “It's just some games we're going to feel better than others. I'm just doing everything I can just to get as healthy as I possibly can for Saturday.”

“He's looking OK,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “He's sore, I can tell you that. Predictably, he's sore.

“He has an injury, so we're managing it all season long. That's my guess, or at least until it heals. We'll manage it and try to be smart about it.”

McNamara was 17-of-30 for 191 yards and two touchdowns in his Iowa debut. He threw touchdown passes to Seth Anderson and Erick All on the Hawkeyes’ first two possessions of the game, then kept the offense under control for the rest of the game.

Still, there were times McNamara shook the right leg, especially after an awkward third-quarter pass that was incomplete.

Asked if the discomfort he was feeling was similar to before last week’s game, McNamara said, “

“I just think some things do feel a little different at times. So I'm not really necessarily comparing to what I was before. I'm just trying to see how close I can get just to be as healthy as I can for Saturday, honestly.”

McNamara’s injury certainly hampers his mobility, and it affects Iowa’s playbook.

The quarterback sneak, a staple of Iowa’s offense, is likely out, Ferentz said.

“I don't think I'm sharing too much about our playbook,” Ferentz said. “ I guess anybody who saw it Saturday, we probably would have done it on fourth and one, quickly gone out there and snapped the ball, but yeah, it's really not on the menu right now.

“You're benefiting from experience, but you're not benefiting from that play for sure. We're not going to have him bootleg like the Chuck Long play from 1985 (in a win over Michigan State). I probably won't pull that one.”

“I don't think I’m 100 percent,” McNamara said. “But I definitely am trying to get as close as I possibly can to make sure I can in whatever I'm able to do. We'll just kind of see how I feel on Saturday. However I feel, I just have to go out there and do what I can to help.

“I'm just playing. I'm just doing everything I can to play. I don't want to be on the sidelines, you know, so, whatever it is I can do, I just want to help my team out.”