Cade McNamara updates his status ahead of Saturday's Cy-Hawk game

All of the talk leading up to the Hawkeyes season opener last Saturday against Utah State revolved around the health status of quarterback Cade McNamara. He injured his quad while scrambling during the Kid’s Day scrimmage on August 12th and while the coaching staff remained hopeful, Cade’s status heading into Saturday was still listed as questionable.

However, when the Iowa offense took the field for their first play of the game, it was the Michigan transfer leading the group onto the field and he promptly threw a touchdown pass to Charleston Southern transfer wide receiver Seth Anderson on the opening play from scrimmage. McNamara finished the day 17/30 passing for 191 yards and two touchdowns, including one to his former Wolverine teammate Erick All. Now the Hawkeyes turn their attention to the Cy-Hawk game against Iowa State and Cade gave an update on his injury when he met with the media today.

“I think it’s just something that we’re going to have to manage through,” said McNamara. “Some games are going to feel better than others and I’m just doing everything I can to get as healthy as I can for Saturday.”

While there were concerns from fans about potentially further injuring his leg against the Aggies, Cade said that when he woke up on Sunday morning, the soreness he was feeling was no different than any other game. When asked if he felt like there was a step back in the recovery process due to playing on Saturday, Cade said that he didn’t think that was the case.

“It definitely felt a little more sore after the game, but so did the rest of my body,” said McNamara. “You’re going to feel your best going into the game and you’re probably going to feel your worst after the game. Just like any game that’s how it felt.”

Cade also mentioned that not every movement that he makes bothers his quad and that there is no difference whether he gets the snap squatting under center or in shotgun. Still, head coach Kirk Ferentz says they have to be careful with what they do while he continues to work towards getting to 100%.

“He’s got an injury, so we’re going to be managing it all season long. That’s my guess, or at least until it heals. We’ll manage it and try to be smart about it,” said Ferentz. “We’re not going to have him bootleg like the Chuck Long play from ’85, probably won’t pull that one.”

McNamara did go on to discuss how he felt the game went on Saturday. He mentioned that that pass protection gave him “all kinds of time” and that offense overall was really close, but still has things to work on going into week two against Iowa State.

“Whatever my state is, anytime a quarterback gets more time (to throw), they’re going to enjoy that…That was their first game too, so they’re going to continue to get better. We saw some things that we can get better at, but I also think there was a lot of good that came out of that game and some things that we can really build on. The offensive line’s pass pro was definitely one of those things.”

“We were right there. It was our first game and nobody was expecting it to be completely perfect…I think a lot of the guys, when you don’t execute to 100%, guys are going to want to do that as a competitor. Going back and watching the film that’s how we felt and we’re doing everything we possibly can to clean that up.”

McNamara’s 30 pass attempts against Utah State were the most he has thrown in a game since the 2021 season when he attempted 38 passes against Nebraska when playing for the Wolverines. In terms of the Iowa offense, the Hawkeyes attempted 30 or more passes just three times last season and eclipsed 190 pass yards in just four of 13 games. Iowa is set to face an Iowa State secondary that ranked tenth in pass defense last year giving up just 178 yards through the air per game.

“They’re just a solid unit. I have complete respect for this defense and I think any team who plays this defense needs to respect it,” said McNamara. “Not just from a schematic standpoint, but they also have really good personnel.”