Brendan Sullivan announced as starting quarterback for Iowa in Music City Bowl vs. Missouri

Brendan Sullivan will be getting the final start at quarterback this season for Iowa.

Kirk Ferentz announced at his press conference on Friday that Sullivan will be the Hawkeyes’ QB1 against Missouri in the Music City Bowl on December 30th. Jackson Stratton, a redshirt sophomore who started their final two games, will then be the reserve behind him.

“As we go onto the game, Brendan Sullivan is healthy so expect him to be our starter. Then Jackson will be the backup to him,” Ferentz said. “That’d be our one-two depth chart there.”

Sullivan appeared in nine games, including a pair of starts this fall, for the Hawkeyes. However, he had not played since November 8th with an ankle injury that was originally thought to be season-ending. He earned those pair of starts after winning the job later in the season from Cade McNamara. His absence, though, then led the team to turn to Stratton for the final two games.

McNamara has since entered the NCAA Transfer Portal earlier this month. Iowa has then also earned a commitment from another quarterback during this cycle.

In his outings, Sullivan was 24-35 (68.6%) for 344 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. He also rushed 35 times for 144 yards and four more scores. Essentially all of that came in a win over Wisconsin with that also including around three quarters apiece against Northwestern and UCLA.

This comes after Sullivan was previously at Northwestern for the three seasons prior. With that, Sullivan has completed 68.7% of his throws for 1,647 yards, a dozen touchdowns, and seven picks in 22 career games with the Wildcats and Hawkeyes in the Big Ten.

Sullivan earned that job at Iowa by the end of October and the start of November. He’ll now retake it in the postseason when they face Mizzou in Music City in ten days from now.