Cade McNamara hits a wide-open Seth Anderson for first touchdown pass with Iowa

Cade McNamara faced some injury questions entering Saturday’s game against Utah State, but the freshly-minted Iowa quarterback didn’t take long to get the Hawkeyes on the board.

The former Michigan quarterback certainly didn’t looked slowed by injuries during his opening drive with his new team. McNamara hit Seth Anderson for a 36-yard-touchdown, sending Iowa fans into a frenzy.

Check out the video below, where McNamara put it perfectly into the bread-basket of a wide-open Anderson.

Cade McNamara hits a wide-open Seth Anderson for his first TD with Iowa 🎯 pic.twitter.com/EL76yXDQ7U

— Steve Samra (@SamraSource) September 2, 2023

Even though Anderson made it interesting, and the play eventually had to be reviewed and confirmed, McNamara couldn’t have put the ball in a better spot if he handed it to him. That’s a pretty sweet start to a new chapter in your football career.

We haven’t seen a lot of big plays out of Iowa’s offense over recent seasons, but perhaps that’ll change as Cade McNamara makes his name known to Hawkeyes faithful.

Kirk Ferentz shares how Cade McNamara has overcome adversity

Continuing, McNamara has been battling through adversity much of his collegiate career, from his days as a Michigan Wolverine to now, proving that he is one of the better quarterbacks in college football today. And according to Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, that natural competitive spirit of his is what will help McNamara bounce back from his injury quickly.

“He’s just wired that way. It’s natural. He’s a very competitive guy; he’s a very positive guy and very strong-willed,” said Ferentz. “Going back to the nature part, I always felt like you can only do so much. Like if you got a broken bone, it’s gotta heal. I totally get that. 

“But from my experiences with guys, mental toughness really helps guys get back to the field faster. And some are more wired that way than others. So that’s certainly not something he’s lacking, and there’s no question he wants to be out there.”

McNamara transferred to Iowa in the offseason after spending the first three years of his college career at Michigan. He led the Wolverines to a Big Ten championship and a College Football Playoff berth as the starting quarterback in 2021 but was bested by J.J. McCarthy for the starting job in 2022. 

With the Wolverines, McNamara was controlled and poised in the pocket, throwing for 3,181 yards, 21 passing touchdowns, and seven interceptions, while completing 63.1 percent of his pass attempts.

On3’s Justin Rudolph contributed to this article.