The Iowa Hawkeyes are 3-2 this season and 1-1 in Big Ten play after their 35-7 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday.
Quarterback Cade McNamara struggled to get anything going against the Buckeyes defense, finishing the game 14-for-20 for 98 passing yards, zero touchdowns, an interception, and two lost fumbles.
This continued an alarming trend for McNamara, who has thrown just seven touchdown passes in ten games with the Hawkeyes. More alarmingly, all seven are against non-power conference teams.
Despite this, head coach Kirk Ferentz doesn’t seem in any rush to make a change at the position. He addressed the situation during his weekly media availability this week.
“We see him every day, and we assess all the quarterbacks, as you might imagine, like we do at every position. Then the things that were obvious that didn’t go well Saturday, my sister probably could tell you. Turning the ball over, and then certainly the pick. That was just a bad mental play on his part. That was the most disappointing play in my mind,” Ferentz said via Hawkeye Insider.
Interestingly, Iowa turned to Northwestern Wildcats transfer Brandon Sullivan for the final offensive drive of the Ohio State loss. He completed his lone pass attempt for 12 yards and gained 27 yards on a pair of scrambles.
Despite this, Ferentz isn’t wavering from his stance.
“There’s a multitude of things that we’re looking at, and the most important thing is I don’t think his confidence has been shaken, and you worry about that coming out of a game like that Saturday where you play a good opponent, and things start going south on you,” the Big Ten’s longest-tenured head coach added.
Iowa looks to return to the win column when they host the Washington Huskies on October 12.
