On Tuesday, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz announced that starting quarterback Cade McNamara, who transferred to Iowa from Michigan after the 2022 season, will be out for the season with a significant knee injury suffered in the first quarter of Saturday's 26-16 victory over Michigan State.
"It's not good," Ferentz said. "He's got an ACL injury, so that's got to be repaired, and he'll be out for the season. He'll stay with the team, be supportive and continue to be a part of our team."
Obviously with knee injuries, especially pre-surgery (McNamara will have his operation next week, per standard protocol with ligament injuries), there's always uncertainty with recovery timetables until they're complete. Still, the prognosis looks promising for McNamara to return to the field in 2024.
"The good news is, [McNamara] should be fine once recovery is over," Ferentz said. "If there is good news, it's a 'clean' injury. Sometimes they can be a little bit messy. He's been fighting some other stuff too, so maybe this will give him a chance to get totally healthy again."
Sophomore quarterback Deacon Hill is expected to start for the rest of the season, with sophomore Joe Labas as the primary backup; Labas started the 2022 Music City Bowl against Kentucky but missed a significant portion of spring and summer practice to injury. True freshman Marco Lainez is the only other scholarship quarterback on the roster.
"Deacon is our starter," Ferentz said. "Joe, he's one play away from going in. He's missed a lot of time in July and August, so he's playing catchup. He's working hard every day, and the fact that [Labas] practiced and played in December gives everybody more confidence."
McNamara finishes his 2023 season with 46 passes completed on 90 attempts for 505 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions.
Ferentz detailed McNamara's 2023 now that he's no longer expected to contribute on the field.
"When [McNamara] comes back, it's a long, lonely road for any player that's injured," Ferentz said. "There's the rehab part of things, Mother Nature's gotta do their part, so that's pretty much regimented and you go as fast as your body will allow you to."
"I think it's pretty obvious right now, mid-October, by the time he gets the surgery, I can't imagine he'll do much in the spring other than maybe throwing a ball, things like that," Ferentz said. "But he won't be practicing. Hopefully he'll have June and July, then August full speed to go. If there's good news here, hopefully both legs are healthy and he's able to be the Cade McNamara he wants to be."
"The last two years for [McNamara], he's had more than his fair share of obstacles and challenges from a health standpoint," Ferentz said Tuesday. "Your heart goes out for guys when they're fighting hard to have a chance to compete, and don't get that opportunity due to health challenges."
Indeed, the injury caps a brutal couple of seasons for McNamara, who came to Iowa rehabbing from surgery on his right knee in November 2022. McNamara wasn't cleared for full practice until August 2023, then promptly suffered a quad injury that took him back out of practice until a week before the regular season began. That missed practice time robbed McNamara of critical 11-on-11 practice time with his receivers, according to coaches, and was a factor in the passing game's slow start in 2023.
Even after returning to the starting lineup, McNamara was listed as questionable before the first two weeks of the season, and his mobility was noticeably limited by his quad injury. Still, he had been improving well enough to be left off of the pregame injury reports in recent weeks.
Now, he's got to deal with another disaster. And in a (bitterly ironic) way, it's helpful that this isn't McNamara's first time dealing with hardship.
"Through the different experiences I've had, I've been able to learn different things from them," McNamara said in August. "I went through a lot of adversity in my last year. The only thing I can do is to expect [adversity] and when it comes, to do everything I can to get through it."
Bradley Heinrichs, CEO of the Iowa Swarm, said on a radio interview Tuesday morning that McNamara would be returning to Iowa in 2024. And to that end, McNamara has still been involved in the offense and getting Hill up to speed.
"Once he gets back here, and he's doing it right now — he's out there every day in the huddle, helping guys out, staying engaged," Ferentz said. "And he'll do that as soon as he finishes the surgery part of things. He can be an immense help: he's played, he's got experience, he can be a good voice for the quarterback room and help his teammates."
That's not just lip service, either; McNamara was named a team captain for Week 5 by his teammates, and Hill specifically mentioned that level of involvement from McNamara even after the injury.
"[Cade] has been out at practice, talking, helping me out," Hill said Tuesday. "We have a pretty good relationship, we're pretty tight. We roomed together in camp, we room together when we travel. So having him is a ginormous blessing as well."
Hill will make his first college football start against Purdue on Saturday. Kickoff is at 2:30 PM with the game on Peacock.
