IOWA CITY -- It's still Jackson Stratton time for the Hawkeyes in Friday's regular season finale — but the depth chart isn't quite on the precipice of disaster anymore.
Iowa quarterbacks Cade McNamara and Brendan Sullivan are practicing this week, according to head coach Kirk Ferentz. The pair are both on the practice field for the first time in a month, as McNamara went down with a concussion the Hawkeyes' win over Northwestern in late October, and Sullivan suffered a sprained ankle against UCLA a couple weeks later.
"They both look good," Ferentz said on Tuesday. "The guys that haven't been in there, Cade and Brendan, are both practicing, and it's an interesting dynamic."
Premium subscribers knew Sullivan was progressing well in his recovery and that he had a shot to play against Nebraska on Friday.
"He's handling everything well," Ferentz said. "We'll see how it goes this week. It's a tight week. We don't have a lot of practice time on the field. Cade looks fine. Keep our fingers crossed that both of them will be ready to go, then we'll figure out the batting order going from there."
Though both quarterbacks are back to practicing and may yet potentially return, Jackson Stratton remains set to start against Nebraska in Iowa's final game of the regular season on Friday.
"He's done a good job," Ferentz said. "The most amazing part, from my vantage point, is he's been a scout team player up until a couple weeks ago. That is a lot to get thrown at you. Not that he is doing everything. He's really handled it well."
Stratton, who led Iowa to their 29-13 win over Maryland in his first-ever collegiate start, is looking forward to keeping that trend up against the Cornhuskers.
"That's going to be awesome," Stratton said of starting at Kinnick. "That's going to be a great thing. I just did the intro [video] for the starters, and I thought that was super cool. That was awesome, but yeah, I'm very excited."
Though the Hawkeyes came out victorious against the Terrapins, Stratton looked back at the film and saw plenty more to learn from.
"I handed off one of the jet sweeps that I probably should have kept it on, I probably [should have] carried out a couple more fakes -- that's what we talked about," he said, on Tuesday. "I thought maybe I missed the one to (Jarriett) Buie in the red zone. But other than that, I thought we did a pretty good job out there."
Stratton's pocket presence and feet were key improvements from the UCLA game to starting in College Park.
"I felt good out there. I felt calm," Stratton, who finished 10-14 for 76 yards and zero turnovers said. "I knew what I saw, and just let it rip."
His practice under Tim Lester the last couple weeks pushed things along pretty significantly, and he doesn't feel nearly as overwhelmed as he once did.
"After the game, I talked about it with somebody, it was just drinking through a fire hose, just learning a lot really quick," he said. "Maybe it's more of a water fountain now, just getting a little more calm in the pocket and just feeling good out there."
Stratton's play isn't exactly something that miraculously came together over the past couple weeks, though. The Colorado State transfer and former three-star prospect showed some flashes in camp.
"He was throwing dimes against the defense earlier in the year," left tackle Mason Richman said. "Three or four weeks ago, the twos and threes were in, and he had a drive where he picked them apart. The defense would say the same thing."
Performances like that, plus Stratton's demeanor, have resulted in the team rallying around him as their starter.
"He's done a great job being calm in the huddle," Richman added. "He's done a great job stepping up for our offense. He's super calm, super stoic, not too high, not too low no matter the moment."
"He seems to be really steady," Ferentz said. "Unflappable is probably a strong word at this point because we don't know him that well. Handles things really in stride. It's been impressive so far."
"[Stratton] didn't play perfect the other day, but he did a lot of really good things," Ferentz continued. "I was really impressed with his poise, be ability not to get in trouble, which is easier said than done sometimes."
Throw in the messy-maned Stratton's nickname "Shaggy" from Scooby-Doo, and the junior transfer has earned what Richman calls a "celebrity status" with his teammates.
"We've all had pride in him for a while," Richman said. "He's just calm as ever in there, and he can throw a good football."
