By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara should have plenty of motivation when he takes the field against Illinois State in Saturday’s season opener at Kinnick Stadium.

Besides wanting to show that he can still perform at a high level despite coming off back-to-back season ending knee injuries, McNamara also has a growing number of doubters and naysayers amongst Hawkeye fans and members of the media that are just waiting for him to fail.

They’re circling like vultures and assume, injury or no injury, that it’ll only be a matter of time before McNamara loses the starting position to Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan.

The backup quarterback is often the most popular player on campus, and that is certainly the case with Sullivan, who has been a Hawkeye only since June.

The anti-McNamara narrative gained steam after he performed poorly in the Kids Day practice on Aug. 10 at Kinnick Stadium.

Sullivan’s performance was only slightly better, maybe mediocre at best.

But it apparently was good enough to convince some fans and some members of the media that Sullivan is the long-term solution at quarterback.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz certainly didn’t help McNamara’s cause by saying that the performance of the quarterbacks in the Kids Day practice was typical of how the quarterbacks have performed throughout preseason practice.

That gave the impression that McNamara has struggled throughout preseason practice, and with him also having struggled in his five starts for Iowa last season, some fans and some members of the media apparently have seen enough.

McNamara’s critics now seem convinced that he will never come close to performing at the same level as he did while leading Michigan to the 2021 Big Ten title, and to the college playoff as the starting quarterback.

McNamara has gone from being the much-needed answer at quarterback for Iowa’s sputtering offense when he transferred from Michigan to where now some believe that he is a liability, and that he is standing in the way of the offense making real progress.

It seems more likely that neither of those extreme narratives are accurate.

This isn’t to suggest that the naysayers are wrong or that they’re treating McNamara unfairly because he has yet to play well as the Iowa quarterback. It’s just surprising how quickly some seem to have given up on him based mostly on a two-hour open practice.

To believe that McNamara could fix all the problems at quarterback by himself is just as silly as giving up on him based on one two-hour practice.

McNamara had the luxury of playing with arguably the best supporting cast in college football when he played for Michigan in 2021. The 2021 Michigan roster was filled with future NFL players, and the Michigan offensive line was probably the best in the country.

All McNamara had to be was a game manager for Michigan who didn’t make many mistakes, and he excelled in that role before ultimately losing the starting position to J.J. McCarthy early in the 2022 season.

McNamara threw 15 touchdown passes for Michigan in 2021 and just six interceptions. The six interceptions was probably his best statistic since throwing 15 touchdown passes in 14 games is far from spectacular.

If McNamara were to come close to matching those numbers this season, he would almost certainly hang on to the starting position because just being average would be a major step up for the Iowa quarterback.

Some were convinced after watching McNamara struggle in the Kids Day practice that Sullivan would start in the season opener, and some even predicted it, or hoped it would happen.

That was hard to believe, though, because it seemed unlikely that Kirk Ferentz would bench McNamara before McNamara had a chance to prove himself in a real game this season.

Iowa has invested a lot time and NIL resources in McNamara just to give up on him without even playing a game.

In fact, Iowa was so determined to get McNamara from the transfer portal that Kirk Ferentz apparently allowed one of his staff members to tamper with McNamara by reportedly reaching out to McNamara before he entered the portal.

Kirk Ferentz and receiver coach Jon Budmayr will now miss the Illinois State game as part of a one-game suspension for committing a recruiting violation.

It’s hard to think of an Iowa player that has fallen off the pedestal quicker than Cade McNamara has over the past year.

All eyes were glued on McNamara at the start of last season as fans and members of the media were excited to see what he could do to help fix Iowa’s offense.

Now it seems all eyes will be on McNamara again on Saturday, but this time some will be waiting for him to fail because they are now convinced, mostly due his performance in the Kids Day practice, that he isn’t the answer at quarterback.

McNamara is obviously a competitor who embraces competition or he wouldn’t have made it this far as a quarterback.

Perhaps he is unaware of his growing list of doubters, but that seems unlikely in this age of social media where everybody has an opinion.

McNamara will almost certainly have a much shorter leash this season compared to last season because Sullivan is a far more accomplished quarterback than former backup Deacon Hill was last season.

It’ll be interesting to see how much patience acting head coach Seth Wallace and new offensive coordinator Tim Lester will have if McNamara struggles on Saturday, and with Sullivan as the backup.

It will also be interesting to see how mobile McNamara is coming off two knew surgeries.

He also was slowed last season by a soft tissue injury that he suffered in the 2023 Kids Day practice.

One thing that can’t be denied is that Sullivan is clearly more mobile and a better runner than McNamara. And that advantage could eventually help Sullivan win the job.

McNamara really hasn’t been fully healthy as a Hawkeye until now, if you call coming off two knee surgeries fully healthy.

Kirk Ferentz and Tim Lester seem to be saying that the starting quarterback position is McNamara’s to lose at this point.

They obviously haven’t given up on McNamara, but they also have sent a message by having convinced Sullivan to transfer.

There is only one way for McNamara to silence his critics and that is to show on Saturday that he can still be an effective quarterback.

Athletes often talk about the motivation that comes with proving their critics and naysayers wrong.

Cade McNamara will certainly have that opportunity on Saturday as some seem convinced that he will ultimately lose the starting position.