Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan helps lead Iowa to 40-14 victory over his former team
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Hawkeye fans finally got their wish as Kirk Ferentz made a switch at quarterback early in the third quarter against Northwestern on Saturday.
The switch from Cade McNamara to Brendan Sullivan came after McNamara had thrown an 85-yard pick-six.
Sullivan, who transferred from Northwestern to Iowa in June, would go on to play the rest of the game as Iowa crushed the Wildcats 40-14 at Kinnick Stadium.
It marked the third time this season that Iowa has scored exactly 40 points in a victory. Iowa defeated Illinois State 40-0 in the season opener and Washington 40-16 on Oct. 12, with both games played at Kinnick Stadium.
McNamara watched the entire second half of the Northwestern game from the Iowa sideline, and with his helmet off, suggesting that he was injured.
The Big Ten Network reported during Saturday’s telecast that McNamara had injured his knee.
Kirk Ferentz then explained his reason for making the switch in his post-game press conference, saying that it was part of the game plan to have Sullivan play in the third or fourth series.
However, Ferentz declined to say if the switch would be permanent.
“We’ll see on that,” Kirk Ferentz said. “Permanent is a strong word, super glue or whatever. We had already made the decision during the week that we were going to rotate them for three or four series. It just worked out that way and (Brendan) did a really nice job.
“And Cade was shook up also from a hit he took.”
Sullivan provided a spark, mostly with his ability to run and scramble from the pocket.
“That’s the clear contrast,” Kirk Ferentz said of his two quarterbacks. “That’s one of Brendan’s strengths. He’s a really good athlete and really good at that.
“The other thing is he commanded the game, which no matter what your style is as a quarterback, you have to do that. So, it was a real good outing.”
Some fans were clamoring for a quarterback change, but Kirk Ferentz had resisted making a change, instead using Sullivan exclusively in goal-line packages in six of the first seven games.
Sullivan didn’t play in last Saturday’s 32-20 loss at Michigan State.
And while Sullivan didn’t do anything spectacular as a passer against Northwestern, completing 9-of-14 attempts for 79 yards, his ability to run gives Iowa a dimension that it doesn’t have with McNamara, who suffered season-ending knee injuries in each of the past two seasons, the first when he played quarterback for Michigan in 2022.
Sullivan finished the game as Iowa’s second leading rusher with 41 yard on eight carries.
“Just having that extra element of being able to scramble, especially in that two-minute drill at the end of the first half, just being able to do that and add that to the team when things aren’t necessarily going how we want them to go,” Sullivan said.
Iowa has won four straight games against Northwestern and improved to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten, while Northwestern fell to 3-5 and 1-4.
Iowa didn’t really need Sullivan to throw much in the second half as Kaleb Johnson gained 79 of his 109 rushing yards in the third and fourth quarters. Johnson had touchdown runs of 41 and 25 yards in the third quarter, helping Iowa to pull away.
Johnson also had a 26-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter to give Iowa 12-7 lead at halftime.
The Hamilton, Ohio native has now scored 16 rushing touchdowns in 7 1/2 games this season.
Johnson didn’t play in the first half of Iowa’s season opener against Illinois State for an undisclosed reason.
Iowa outscored the Wildcats 28-0 in the third quarter with one of the four touchdowns coming on an 85-yard punt return by Williamsburg native Kaden Wetjen. It was the seventh longest punt return for a touchdown in program history.
McNamara made his 13th start for the Hawkeyes on Saturday, and he completed a 42-yard pass on Iowa’s opening possession of the game.
However, after throwing the pick-six early in the second quarter, Kirk Ferentz made the switch at quarterback, much to the delight of Iowa fans.
Iowa went three-and-out on its first three possessions with Sullivan at quarterback.
But thanks to Iowa’s suffocating defense, and to the punting of freshman Rhys Dakin, who kept Northwestern buried deep in its own territory, Sullivan and his cohorts on offense finally reached the end zone when Kaleb Johnson broke loose for a 26-yard run with 39 seconds left in the second quarter.
Drew Stevens converted the point-after kick to give Iowa a 12-7 lead at halftime.
Northwestern only gained 82 yards in the first half and made it to the red zone just once in the first two quarters.
The trip to the end zone came on Northwestern’s opening possession of the game, but the drive ended with the Wildcats missing a field goal.
Iowa began the third quarter on offense and then marched 78 yards on seven plays for a touchdown, which came on a six-yard run by Sullivan.
It seemed pretty clear at that point that Sullivan had earned the right to keep playing, even if McNamara wasn’t injured.
On Iowa’s first possession of the game, McNamara completed a 42-yard pass to Seth Anderson on third-and 5. Anderson made a diving catch to give Iowa first down at the Northwestern 24.
However, the drive stalled as Iowa settled for a 24-yard field goal by Drew Stevens.
McNamara had unsuccessfully tried to hit tight end Luke Lachey on a fade route in the end zone on third down.
The first quarter ended with Iowa leading 3-0 and with McNamara having completed 7-of-10 passes for 78 yards.
But the circumstances changed quickly for McNamara in the second quarter as he and the offense would continue to struggle.
The question now is who should start at quarterback moving forward.
McNamara has certainly been given a fair amount of time to solidify his starting position, but he just hasn’t played well enough to keep it.
Even if McNamara is healthy enough to play against Wisconsin next Saturday, Sullivan deserves a chance to show what he can do as the starter.
And if he were to struggle, Kirk Ferentz could always switch back to McNamara, assuming he is healthy.
Northwestern 0 7 0 7 – 14
Iowa 3 9 28 0 – 40
I – Drew Stevens 24 FG
N – Theran Johnson 85 interception return (Luke Akers kick)
I – Safety, Jack Laush tackled in end zone
I – Kaleb Johnson 26 run (Stevens kick)
I – Brendan Sullivan 6 run (Stevens kick)
I – Kaden Wetjen 85 punt return (Stevens kick)
I – Johnson 25 run (Stevens kick)
N – Drew Wagner 72 punt return (Akers kick)