IOWA CITY — Cade McNamara's rocky start to the 2023 season has turned into a disaster — and now, win and all, Iowa will likely have to navigate the rest of the Big Ten schedule without its signal-caller.
With 8:11 left in the first quarter and Iowa backed up to its own 2-yard line, McNamara scrambled out of the pocket. McNamara's surgically repaired left knee buckled on an attempted juke and he went down without contact — a scenario eerily similar to his Open Scrimmage injury from August.
"I don't want to speculate," head coach Kirk Ferentz said after the game Saturday when asked about McNamara's status. "You feel bad for any player who gets injured, but in his case, it's just rough."
It took until the second half for McNamara to be officially ruled out for the game, with what was only termed a lower leg injury. Ferentz said he wouldn't have specifics until early next week. But after being carried off the field with no weight on his leg and then being carted off to the locker room, everyone in Kinnick Stadium knew right away that McNamara's day — and quite plausibly his season — was finished.
Longtime teammate Erick All was one of the first teammates to talk to McNamara after he was carted off the field.
"I caught him in the training room coming back in at halftime," All said. "I just loved on him, told him I had his back and was praying for him, and just to keep his head up and keep fighting."
Ferentz declined to characterize McNamara's mood after the game. "You can probably figure that one out yourself," he said.
Backup quarterback Deacon Hill stepped into the spotlight and performed admirably, given the direness of the situation — even if his statistics were pedestrian: 11/27, 115 yards, a touchdown and an interception. And yes, he's got a comeback win under his belt, but the game-winning touchdown came via special teams.
Still, to step in for the most high-profile player, in an environment fraught with peril, is no small feat.
"I'm impressed with how Deacon stepped in," Ferentz said after the game Saturday night. "He really did a good job leading our football team and making good decisions, especially in the second half in some critical situations."
Now, for the cold shower: there's no way to look at McNamara's injury and come to any other conclusion than that Iowa's season prospects have changed.
Even with the lion's share of summer reps with the 1s, Hill was a distant second-place in the QB competition, and his shortcomings were undeniably evident in the game. Hill didn't get many favors from his receivers (five of the team's six drops were on throws by Hill), but his accuracy was inconsistent and he was likely lucky to come out of the game with only one interception thrown.
"[Hill] made some good throws, and had some other ones we can probably improve on," Ferentz said. "But I thought he did a good job for a first time, in a really critical time."
Still: there's only columns for wins and losses, no matter how pyrrhic the victory, and Iowa got the win amid a level of adversity that many teams would (and routinely do) fold under.
"It just speaks to the resilience of this team," Hill said. "We're a very tough team. We never stop fighting until the last second."
