PASADENA -- Iowa's quarterback situation is a mess once again -- if it wasn't already even before Friday night's 20-17 road loss to UCLA.
Second-string Northwestern transfer turned starter Brendan Sullivan went down with a sprained ankle in the second half, resulting in walk-on quarterback and Colorado State transfer Jackson Stratton seeing the field for the first time at Iowa.
At the start of the season, Stratton was Iowa's fourth-string quarterback behind Cade McNamara, Sullivan and Marco Lainez. Just two weeks ago, Stratton practiced at scout-team linebacker for the Hawkeyes. Due to injuries to all three QBs ahead of him, as well as a position flip and an injury to freshman James Resar, Stratton was the lone available quarterback for the Hawkeyes in the second half of the Friday night loss.
Prior to Sullivan's injury, he led the offense on two scoring drives on Iowa's first two possessions, both off UCLA interceptions. He finished the game completing 6-of-9 passes for 157 yards, giving up two interceptions and a fumble to the Bruin defense.
"Both teams did a poor job of protecting the football," Kirk Ferentz said postgame. "That could have been helpful for us if we had done a better job. Needless to say that's usually the biggest factor in any game. So, that part is not good."
Other than a 59-yard bomb, Sullivan struggled to pass the ball. Known for his athleticism and speed, he wasn't able to run the ball effectively, either -- especially after taking several big hits before he limped off with the ankle injury.
As a team, the Hawkeyes had 31 carries for just 80 yards and two touchdowns, an abnormally poor performance for an offense that possesses one of the top running backs in the country in Kaleb Johnson.
"I think it all goes back to the run game, stopping the run," Ferentz added. "They were pretty active. They were blitzing a lot and that got us off rhythm and into some negative yardage plays. We haven't had many of those, and we had a few tonight. They kind of took us off our game [and] off our spot."
In comparison, UCLA ran the ball 39 times for 211 yards. Prior to Saturday night's game, the Bruins had averaged just 73.9 yards per game on 2.84 yards per carry, worst in the Big Ten.
With 3:58 left in the fourth quarter, Stratton saw his first action in black and gold.
"The adrenaline's always going when you're about to go play a game, especially the first play," Stratton said postgame. "It's always good to get that first play out of the way."
For the last two weeks, the former three-star gunslinger knew he had a chance to see the field -- and that was his mindset prior to each game.
"When you're next man up, you have to be ready to go in," he said. "I compare it like you're the starter, and be ready to go in. And I thought I did a good job of that."
Handed a 17-10 deficit, Stratton wasn't relied on to throw the ball very much, as 11 of the 17 snaps he saw were run calls. When he was trusted to throw the ball, Stratton fared well for a walk-on previously buried on the depth chart, finishing the game 3-for-6 for 28 yards and leading a touchdown drive to tie the game with 11:29 to play in the fourth quarter.
Two big passes were completed to Gill on the drive -- one for 10 yards on 3rd and 8 and another for 15 yards (on 3rd and 14) to set up the game-tying, one-yard touchdown run by Kamari Moulton.
"That's just credit to Gill, too," Stratton said. "He's a fantastic route runner, and he knows how to get open. He's a safety valve out there. He's always a guy you can get the ball to if you need to get the ball out."
Gill, who finished the game with a career-high six receptions for 138 yards, was impressed with what the backup QB did in the game.
"He did well," the Northwestern transfer said. "He came in and we had complete confidence in him, and he helped lead us on some critical drives. So yeah, I'm proud of him."
Given the situation, Ferentz was happy with what Stratton was able to do as well.
"I thought he did a really nice job and made a beautiful throw," Ferentz said. "I think it was on a third down conversion. He didn't seem overwhelmed by things and that's a real credit to him there."
Despite tying the game late, the Hawkeyes weren't able to overtake the Bruins, who went on to make a 27-yard field goal that proved to be the game-winner. The UCLA defense quickly got Iowa's offense off the field on the Hawkeyes' final possession before the Bruin offense took over with 3:53 to go and ran the clock out to earn the victory.
"It's just a disappointing night," Ferentz said after the game. "I told the team it's a team loss and it is all the way. To me, in a nutshell, they ran the ball extremely effectively and we didn't."
