As the 2024 college football season quickly approaches, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz made a concerning admission about the state of his offense. It sounds like quarterback Cade McNamara has been objectively terrible during fall camp.
The Hawkeyes have a real problem on their hands with just 18 days until their first game.
McNamara, a sixth-year graduate student, transferred from Michigan in 2023 after four years in Ann Arbor and one year as the starter. He unfortunately suffered a season-ending knee injury after his first five games with Iowa. This upcoming fall is his final season of eligibility.
Ferentz expected McNamara to come in and prove why he should be the incumbent starter, but that is not what happened. In fact, it is now to the point that Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan is not only breathing down McNamara’s neck, he might be the better option for Week 1 if there even is one.
Saturday was a disaster… for them both.
Iowa held an open scrimmage at Kinnick Stadium that could not have gone much worse for the offense. Both quarterbacks went a combined 18-of-45 for less than 100 total yards passing. Neither signal-caller scored a touchdown. McNamara also threw a pick-six. Big yikes.
The good news is that bad days happen. The bad new is that this, according to Ferentz, wasn’t a bad day.
He was asked whether Saturday’s scrimmage was a “typical day” for the quarterbacks through the first nine practices of fall camp. His answer does not inspire any confidence.
Yeah! That’s probably a fair assessment, yeah. Just, you know, like everything, not consistent. At this point, it’s, you know, um, we’ve just gotta keep working. Every snap is really important for us right now.
— Kirk Ferentz
You can hear the panic in Ferentz’s voice.
If less than 100 yards passing on a completion rate of 40% is “typical,” the Hawkeyes are in for another painstaking year. Cade McNamara, Brendan Sullivan and the Iowa offense have less than three weeks to get it figured out. The clock is ticking!