Iowa benches QB Cade McNamara, puts Brendan Sullivan in during 2nd quarter vs. Northwestern

Iowa made a change at quarterback in the middle of the second quarter against Northwestern on Saturday, benching Cade McNamara for backup Brendan Sullivan. Sullivan is a Northwestern transfer.

Precipitating the quarterback change was likely a pick-six thrown by McNamara the series prior, which ended an Iowa drive deep in Wildcats territory and put the Hawkeyes in a 7-3 hole. Iowa punted on Sullivan’s first two series under center, but did score via a safety in between, making it a 7-5 game.

Sullivan brings a dual-threat ability to the position that is absent from McNamara’s game as the Hawkeyes are evidently trying to get a spark.

Sullivan managed to lead a late touchdown drive just before the half to give Iowa a 12-7 lead, but that was mostly on the back of a long Kaleb Johnson touchdown run. Otherwise, Sullivan’s drives had led to punts.

And McNamara was benched after a mostly solid start went awry with a pick-six thrown deep in Northwestern territory to give the Wildcats a 7-3 lead at the time. The next drive, Sullivan was in. But that may or may not be the case coming out of the half, Ferentz said on Big Ten Network.

“We’ll see how it goes. We’ll talk about it at halftime,” Ferentz said.

As for Johnson finally breaking through, Ferentz knew it was just a matter of time.

“That’s part of the run game. They’re really doing a good job. Well coached. We knew it was going to be hard. You just have to stay with it and try to be patient,” Ferentz said.

Some Iowa athletics royalty was celebrated on Saturday

A recent Hawkeyes legend got a moment of celebration on Saturday, as the 2023-24 Hawkeyes women’s basketball team that made the Final Four was on hand. Including, of course, Caitlin Clark.

During a break in the first half action, Clark and Co., along with recently retired head coach Lisa Bluder, strutted out to the goal line to get a standing ovation. And they brought along their Big Ten championship and NCAA Tournament regional championship trophies, too.

And Clark, who is coming off a star rookie season for the Indiana Fever, could be seen showing off her collection of championship rings to the cameras.

Caitlin Clark, Lisa Bluder, and the rest of the @IowaWBB 2024 Final Four squad are here to watch some @HawkeyeFootball 🐥#B1GFootball pic.twitter.com/Td9Ay0h9U9

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 26, 2024

Clark enjoyed as decorated a college basketball career as they come, especially for a player who a national championship title eluded. Even still, she was a multi-time All American, conf