IOWA CITY -- With two regular season games left in the 2024 season, Iowa doesn't have its starting quarterback position settled. Following a Cade McNamara concussion, a Brendan Sullivan sprained ankle, a Marco Lainez broken thumb, and a James Resar position flip and non-contact knee injury, walk-on Colorado State transfer Jackson Stratton saw significant snaps in the Hawkeyes' 20-17 loss to UCLA last Friday.
With the bye week now in full swing and another week of preparation prior to a trip to Maryland (11:00 AM CT, November 23, BTN) Iowa first-year offensive coordinator Tim Lester doesn't know who will be QB1 in black and gold in less than two weeks -- or who it is right now, for that matter.
"It'll be interesting on the practice field tomorrow," Lester said. "We don't know who's gonna be out there."
Sullivan and McNamara have taken the majority of reps as the starter at QB this season, and if either one of them is healthy and able to practice or play, they'll be the guy who gets the starter reps. If they both return before the end of the season, Lester says the pair will be given the opportunity to duke it out in practice and earn the starting spot.
"I would let them compete," Lester said. "It would be a great week. It could be like a real live [competition]. Those guys have both done a lot of great things and they affect our offense differently. Let's see who's playing well. I wish that was the case, but rarely is that the case."
An optimist more often than not, Lester doubts that Sullivan and McNamara will have the opportunity to battle before season's end due to aforementioned health concerns.
"I don't think that's gonna be the case, is my guess," he said. "That's not gonna be the case."
Lester, who was refreshingly candid about the QB situation and the passing game during the media availability on Tuesday, made it clear he hasn't been satisfied with the way things have gone through the air this season, describing it as "not up to par."
"We have a long way to go," he said. "It's the hardest thing to get going. There's been some games that we're averaging seven yards a carry on the ground and we have a lead, and as much as I want to throw it, it's not smart for the team for me to throw it."
Lester sees the offense's deficiencies at present and understands that it's best for Iowa to lean heavily on the run game for now -- but knows that the Hawkeyes will need to reach a point where they can rely on the passing game as well in order for the offense to reach its full potential.
"We have to get to the point where we need to throw the ball to win," he said. "We've shown flashes in practice and it's getting better."
A significant reason the air attack hasn't progressed to the degree Lester would have liked is the lack of a consistent starter throughout the season.
"As soon as I start thinking we're good, then another quarterback comes in," he said. "So we have a long way to go. That's the fun part is that we have tons of work, right? And we've been running the ball efficiently, which has been helping our movements and our play passes a little bit as of late. But we have a long way to go."
One quarterback in particular has a long way to go. Though Stratton saw several snaps against the Bruins on Friday, he was definitely thrown into the fire. After serving as a scout team quarterback and linebacker in the last several weeks, Stratton was flung back into learning Iowa's offense and doing his best to build some level of chemistry with the starters.
If he's forced into leading Iowa's offense against Maryland and Nebraska to finish out the season, he'll need to do a lot of growing over the next two weeks.
"He's getting back to playing and running the offense we ran in the fall when he got some of our reps of running what we do," Lester said. "I'm excited to give him a ton of reps in the bye week."
The coach and QB combo will work on several things that Lester pointed to following the loss to UCLA, namely working through his progressions.
"He did a pretty decent job progressing [on Friday]," Lester said. "It was a panic progression. He was definitely panicked, but he was progressing -- at a panicked pace. He stepped with the wrong foot on the one he hit (Jacob) Gill on, but he made up for it with a quick hitch. This whole offense works on certain footwork. He's working on it."
The bye week reps are invaluable for the former three-star prospect.
"The fun thing for him is, is footwork is something you can train, right?" Lester said. "He just needs time. He got here three months ago or like a week before we started camp or something like that. So he has not had much time to work at this thing. His biggest ailment is just reps, which we can give him, especially this week."
Again, Lester's measured candor came through when speaking on Stratton's lack of preparation to this point, and how he'd feel if Iowa was forced to role with the CSU transfer as QB1.
"I've stood up here and told you that there's no replacement for reps, right?" he said. "He hasn't gotten one. So would I be confident? No, [but] I'd be encouraged because I know the human being and I know how he's worked at it."
Stratton's mentality shined following the loss to the Bruins -- particularly after he missed a throw to Jarriett Buie on 3rd and 6 that would have extended what was ultimately Iowa's final possession.
"I didn't want to throw him into that situation, but I thought he handled himself fairly well," Lester said. "He's just mad he missed the last throw. I gave him his hinge. That's his favorite route. So on that third down, I called that one and he hesitated a little bit and then he threw it inside and he had it. "
That was the first thing Stratton said to his QB coach postgame -- not that he led the early fourth-quarter drive that tied the game, but that he missed the third down throw to Buie.
"I mean, that was pretty impressive for a first-time-playing, walk-on quarterback to do, you know?" Lester said. "He was so hung up on that last ball, which is also encouraging because he has high expectations and he wants it. So I'm encouraged by that and we just need time and drilling. We might not have a ton of time, but we're going to put our best foot forward."
