Kirk Ferentz reveals what he saw from Brendan Sullivan in transfer portal

Brendan Sullivan is starting at quarterback for Iowa this week against Wisconsin. Longtime Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz remembers game planning against him this time a year ago exactly.

Sullivan, at the time with Northwestern, was coming off one of the better games of his Wildcats career. In a 33-27 win over Maryland, Sullivan threw a pair of touchdown passes and piled up more than 300 yards from scrimmage (265 passing, 56 rushing).

“I find ways to really get over nervous about games,” Ferentz said this week, reflecting on Sullivan’s journey to Iowa. “And that was part of that — I thought it was a really good game [between Maryland and Northwestern]. Both teams were going back and forth in that game, and Brendan did a nice job really moving their team and was in a real good rhythm.

“So I vaguely remembered that, obviously I didn’t know we were gonna be looking at him in a different vein back whenever it would have been, April or May. But that game really stood out. He had others where it was OK, but that type of thing — it was kind of up and down a little bit with the team and with his performance.”

Ferentz added: “But when we got to meet him, he was very, very impressive.”

Sullivan finished his Northwestern career with 13 games under his belt, including eight starts. He completed 134-of-195 passes (68.7%) for 1,303 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. Plus, he added 257 yards and three scores on the ground.

Despite his success against Maryland — in a game that marked his third start of the 2023 season while filling in for injured veteran Ben Bryant — he netted only 105 yards of offense the following week in a 10-7 loss to Iowa. Then Bryant returned, and Sullivan watched from the sidelines as the former Cincinnati and Easter Michigan quarterback helped Northwestern reach the eight-win mark.

Sullivan, now a redshirt junior, entered the transfer portal after spring ball. He landed at Iowa, where he immediately started absorbing the playbook.

“One thing I’m really impressed with is the fact that he got here that late and was able to learn and has been able to learn as quickly as he did,” Ferentz said. “That’s part of the benefit of being an older guy, too. And he’s a smart guy. But he just works hard.

“You go watch the guys in the summer program, and he’s leading the group in sprints, those types of things. And basically anything we’re doing, he’s going full speed and really getting after it and doing a great job. [He’s not] overly boisterous, but just he’s a guy who commands respect through performance.”

Sullivan replaced Cade McNamara in the first half last week, ironically against Northwestern, and led the Hawkeyes to a 40-14 victory over his old team. He completed 9-of-14 passes for 79 yards to go along with 41 yards rushing yards and a score.

With McNamara sidelined by a concussion, among other injuries, Sullivan is in line to make his first start with his new team Saturday against Wisconsin.

“I think it seems very apparent that players really like him. They support him,” Ferentz said of Sullivan. “Obviously, same thing with Cade, you know he’s a captain. So you know you got two guys there that are really working at it and doing a good job there.”