IOWA CITY — Iowa's 40-14 victory over the visiting Northwestern Wildcats was not only a return to form for the Hawkeyes, it featured a perhaps-overdue, certainly-welcome switch to Brendan Sullivan at quarterback.
Sullivan guided Iowa to 37 consecutive points after being inserted for McNamara, who was pulled after a disastrous pick-six gave Northwestern a 7-3 lead. Sullivan can't take credit for all of the scoring (Iowa got a punt-return TD from Kaden Wetjen and a safety from DE Max Llewellyn), but a 28-point third quarter with Sullivan running the show blew the game open — and almost certainly cemented his status as QB1 going forward.
Officially, McNamara was "shook up" after a massive hit by Northwestern DL Anto Saka, which resulted in a roughing the passer penalty that wiped out an interception, and Sullivan's insertion into the game was (per head coach Kirk Ferentz) actually part of a planned rotation that became permanent with McNamara hurting.
"We had already made the decision during the week that we were going to rotate Brendan in," said Ferentz after the game. "Depending on how it played out, it just worked out that way, and he did a really nice job, and Cade was shook up also after the hit he took."
Again, that's the official story. Maybe this isn't the end of the Cade McNamara Era at QB1. But it's certainly hard to ignore, much less deny, the finality of it all.
The fans' distaste for McNamara began well before kickoff, as his announcement as starter on the video screen was greeted with a smattering of boos. While his 42-yard pass to Seth Anderson provided an early boost to the offense, McNamara couldn't take advantage of numerous chances to get into the end zone to finish off the drive.
McNamara had a wounded-duck interception called back due to the roughing the passer penalty in the first quarter, but no flag would fall to save him from the pick-six that sealed his fate on Saturday.
McNamara never saw the field again after that play, which had been preceded by a Quinn Schulte interception that had put Iowa in prime scoring position. What could have been a 6-0 or 10-0 lead was instead a deficit the Hawkeyes would not overcome until the final minute of the first half.
Despite Ferentz's aversion to turnovers and repeated calls for better play from McNamara over the last couple weeks, he stopped well short of calling McNamara's exit from the game Saturday anything but part of the gameplan.
"This was pre-planned," said Ferentz. "We communicate with everybody, especially the parties involved, just what our plan was and why. I didn't see it as a demotion as much as Brendan has been doing a good job."
That quote won't go over well with the vocally impatient wing of the Iowa fanbase — which, based on the crowd reactions to both QB's performances Saturday, comprised most of Kinnick Stadium — but it's also par for the course for a coach who steadfastly refuses to criticize players in postgame comments, and rarely does so in midweek press appearances even with the benefit of film study of the week prior.
Indeed, if there's anything predictable about Ferentz, in his 26th year as Iowa's head coach, it's his near-militant pragmatism about personnel movement, especially when it comes to switching signal-callers.
"A week ago Monday, I know [starting QB] was a big topic," said Ferentz. "Two weeks ago Monday, it wasn't a topic about who our quarterback was. That's the nature of football. You can't worry too much about that. Our job as coaches is to try to do what's best for the team."
After Saturday's game, McNamara's teammates universally praised his leadership even after his ignominious exit — starting with Sullivan himself.
"Ever since I got here, [McNamara's leadership] has been amazing," said Sullivan. "He's helped me with the offense, helped me grow as a human being, let alone a football player."
"If you looked on the sideline, [McNamara] is still cheering on his teammates, excited for everybody else," said Schulte. "He's a really good teammate, and that's what it comes down to if you're a captain. You're just trying to do everything you can to help your team win, and he showed that today."
Senior offensive lineman Mason Richman echoed Schulte's comments.
"Even when [McNamara] came out, he was still engaged in the game," said Richman. "He could have gone and sat down, and I've seen that before with certain guys. Obviously the situation was a little unfortunate for him, but as a team we did a great job rallying around everybody."
Indeed, while McNamara's ineffectiveness on the field soured him to the Iowa fanbase, his teammates are eager for him to remain captain as well, regardless of what Monday's depth chart portends for the future of Iowa's quarterback competition.
"Certainly, I think he's done everything that he needs to do to be captain," said fellow Schulte, a fellow team captain. "He's leading and doing things that people might not see on the outside, but he continues to do a good job."
"Cade's still a great leader on our team," said Richman. "We didn't elect him captain because he's the best quarterback in the country. We picked him because he's a great leader, he cares about this team and he's not selfish about anything."
"Cade is a phenomenal guy, on and off the field," said Kaleb Johnson. "He's always focused on little details, like Coach Ferentz is. He got a little banged up, and all you could see was him cheering Sully on. So to me, it doesn't matter who's in. They both are good."
If there's any saving grace to the McNamara era at Iowa, then, it's that his effect on the team isn't limited to what he does on the field. If his time at QB1 is truly at an end — and make no mistake, it probably should be — his teammates' esteem for him remains high, and that would be something worth keeping in mind when it's his turn for the Senior Day runout in five weeks' time.
