By Pat Harty

With the Iowa football team losing 35-7 at Ohio State on Saturday, it has been far too long since an Iowa quarterback has performed well against an elite opponent.

Nate Stanley’s five-touchdown masterpiece against Ohio State happened seven years ago, while Iowa’s 12-win season with C.J. Beathard playing quarterback happened in 2015, nearly a decade ago.

Cade McNamara had a chance to flip the script against Ohio State on Saturday, but he failed miserably, committing three turnovers in the second half of the 28-point loss.

He also threw for just 26 yards in the second half.

McNamara hasn’t come close to performing at the same level he played for Michigan in 2021 while leading the Wolverines to a Big Ten title, to a win over Ohio State and to the college playoff that season.

It would be unfair to blame Saturday’s rout all on McNamara because the run blocking left much to be desired and the Iowa defense gave up 412 yards and five touchdowns, including four in the second half.

But McNamara was brought in from the transfer portal to help jumpstart the offense.

Iowa wanted him so badly that Kirk Ferentz admitted to contacting McNamara late in 2022 before McNamara had entered the transfer portal, which is against the rules.

Ferentz missed the 2024 season opener against Illinois State as part of a self-imposed one-game suspension.

McNamara only played in five games last season before suffering a season-ending knee injury against Michigan Sate in the fifth game.

His 2022 season at Michigan was also cut short by a season-ending knee injury.

McNamara was never a dual-threat quarterback, even on his best day, but he used to move much better than he moves now.

His lack of mobility, coupled with a lack of explosive receivers has made it difficult for Iowa to throw down field under new offensive coordinator Tim Lester,

It didn’t matter that much in the first four games because the Iowa running game behind Kaleb Johnson was so productive.

But when the running game stalled against the Buckeyes, Iowa didn’t have an answer.

McNamara then made things worse by turning the ball over three times.

He was replaced by Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan early in the fourth quarter, and Sullivan would go on to lead Iowa’s only scoring drive.

Sullivan had played exclusively in goal-line packages in the first four games, but it made little sense with Iowa trailing the Buckeyes by 35 points to leave McNamara in the game in the fourth quarter.

Some Iowa fans will say that Sullivan deserves a chance to start, and maybe Kirk Ferentz will pull the plug on McNamara, although that seems unlikely at this stage.

But why not play them both?

Sullivan is clearly a better runner than McNamara, and McNamara’s passing also has left much to be desired.

Saturday’s game was yet another case of Iowa falling way short against an elite opponent.

And while football is considered the ultimate team sport, it’s hard to be elite when your quarterback isn’t even average.