IOWA CITY -- Iowa has its new starter at quarterback.
Brendan Sullivan, who completed 9-of-14 passes for 79 yards through the air and took eight carries for 41 yards and a touchdown to lead Iowa to a 40-14 win over Northwestern last weekend, will officially start against Wisconsin on Saturday.
It's been a long time coming, and he's gone through plenty of hills and valleys for Sullivan to reach the starting position at Iowa.
"It meant a lot, with all the stuff that I've worked for and the trust I have in me," Sullivan said of earning the starting position at Tuesday's media availability. "It means a ton to be able to be a starter at Iowa football."
Taking over under center in the second quarter last Saturday in Kinnick Stadium, Sullivan lit a fire under an offense that was otherwise stagnant. According to his teammates, he not only lit up that fire with his mobility on the field, but with a little smack talk to the opposing team, too.
"I love when he does that," said senior center Logan Jones with a smile. "It just gives you so much energy because you're like, 'This guy plays for us.' [...] You want a guy like that. You want a guy who's competitive and will get in your face, especially a quarterback."
Sullivan first started showing those flairs of competitiveness as soon as he showed up in June, then into camp in August.
"He'd get after our guys a little bit," Jones said. "It was the first time I'd ever seen a quarterback in a brawl before. I loved it. I can't even remember the play. I think he was going towards the corner of the end zone. He got hit a little bit. Next thing you know, everybody just swarms protecting their quarterback."
"It was pretty funny, though," Jones continued. "That's a bold move for a guy who shows up in June, though, kind of announcing his presence with authority like that."
Sullivan looked back at that memory fondly, and brushed it off as the norm.
"It was just kind of similar stuff to Saturday," he laughed. "I like letting the defense know when we're playing pretty well, and they didn't like that one day."
Jones hopes Sullivan keeps talking to opposing defenses.
"That's the kind of energy we need," he smiled. "So, yeah, I love it. I love when he does that. And he does the exact same thing in practice. Sometimes things might break out a little bit. He'll be the first one in there protecting your guys, and we're going to protect him, too. So, I love it."
That intensity with which Sullivan approaches the game translates to his efforts on the field, too. During Saturday's contest, he completed a short pass to backup tight end Johnny Pascuzzi, then proceeded to out-sprint him down the field and lay a block on a Northwestern DB.
"That was awesome," Jones added. "I didn't know exactly what happened. I just remember seeing him streak down the sideline. Then I look up at the video board and see number one sprinting and blocking for Scuz. I was like, man, that's awesome. You want to play for a guy like that. I love seeing that. You don't see quarterbacks do that very often."
Sullivan, whose father coached football, credited his upbringing for his desire to continue to impact the play even after his assignment was taken care of.
"I think it's just the way I was raised, my dad taught me the game," he said. "To play with full effort, full confidence, and then just control the controllables. And so that's something I can control, is helping my guy get more yards, and that's gonna help the team out. I'm gonna do that every time."
Kirk Ferentz was pleased with the effort of his new starter, too.
"It says something about his personality -- him wanting to get down there and help the play," Iowa's head man said. "He could have stood there and been a spectator, but he threw the ball and then he started basically trucking down the field. That to me was being a good teammate."
Following his performance against the Wildcats last Saturday, Sullivan took the time to look back on his journey.
"After the game, I sat down with my family, had some food," he said. "I just reflected on my time at Northwestern and how much it meant to go out there and get the win against them after what happened, transfer portal and all that stuff. So, it was an amazing feeling. Definitely something that I'll carry with me for the rest of my life."
It was satisfying for Sullivan's teammates to see his performance against the Wildcats, as well. Particularly one of his former wide receivers in Evanston that followed him to Iowa City.
"He's a dog," Jacob Gill said. "He always stays consistent with his process, he knows what he believes in and he reaped the benefits of it on Saturday. He's always been ready to go, ready to play and give his all."
Each of Gill and Sullivan have had their ups and downs during their respective football careers, but their paths have both brought them to Iowa City, and an increase of production for them both in the black and gold.
"We've been talking since camp about going and getting what we deserve, putting the work in and fighting for what we can get," Gill said. "Seeing us both reaping the benefits of that, continuing to push forward and bettering ourselves, it was just awesome to see it all work for him."
Though Sullivan was slated to share reps under center with then-starter Cade McNamara on Saturday, he finished the game due to an injury to the former Michigan gun-slinger. According to Ferentz, McNamara suffered a concussion in the first quarter when he took a shot from Northwestern defensive lineman Anto Saka that was ultimately called for roughing the passer.
In the recent days, though McNamara is fighting through symptoms and (predictably) has had difficulty returning from the concussion, Sullivan said the team captain and former starter has been fully supportive through the transition.
"He's always gonna be in my corner, he's told me that," Sullivan said. "And so he's just told me he's got my back, and so I appreciate that. And I'll take any nuggets from him I can get. He's a smart football player, and if there's anything from him I can get out here, I'll take it."
Ferentz could tell the dynamic in the QB room between Sullivan, McNamara and redshirt freshman Marco Lainez is a healthy one.
"They all care about each other," he said. "They pull for each other. It's been that way all season long, even when we started rotating Brendan in. ... All three of them, they've got a really good vibe. That's what you hope for."
Sullivan will look to put it all together again in his first start at Iowa this coming Saturday against the Badgers.
"You've got to take the confidence and take the things that you did well from that game [against Northwestern]," he said. "But also you've kind of got to forget about it and move on because it's the new team, new game, and being a starter's a little different than coming in halfway through."
Now that he's the starter, Sullivan knows his mentality can't change, and though there is satisfaction from his performance against his former team, he can't rest on his laurels.
"It's foot on the gas from here on out," he said. "We've got to keep getting better. We've got a lot of goals for this team and for this season. We've got to maintain those goals."
