Joe Labas will get first career start for Iowa in Music City Bowl

Neither Iowa nor Kentucky will have their starting quarterback available on New Year’s Eve when the two programs face each other for the second consecutive postseason in the Music City Bowl. While the Wildcats have been more hesitant about announcing a starting QB, Iowa decided to commit this week.

Redshirt freshman Joe Labas (6-4, 207) will get his first career start in Nashville.

“He’s No. 1,” Kirk Ferentz said this week about Iowa’s regular season QB3.

Spencer Petras was the starter for the Hawkeyes for all of 2022 after an up-and-down season. However, offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz stood by the veteran in a year where Iowa finished No. 116 in success rate and No. 129 in yards per play. However, the redshirt senior suffered an injury on Senior Day against Nebraska and will be unavailable for the Music City Bowl. Meanwhile, backup quarterback Alex Padilla entered the transfer portal after the season ended.

That has left Iowa in a vulnerable spot.

The Hawkeyes went into the portal and quickly earned a commitment from Michigan transfer Cade McNamara who will very likely open the 2023 season in Iowa City as QB1 for the Hawks. But the Big Ten West program must play a bowl game first.

Kirk and Brian Ferentz will be turning to Labas.

The class of 2021 signee was a mid three-star recruit out of Greater Cleveland. The former Ball State commit flipped his pledge to Iowa in the summer before his senior season. Since arriving on campus, Labas has run the scout team for the last two seasons where he has been praised for his off-script playmaking potential.

Labas is claiming that Iowa will be adding some wrinkles to the call sheet to help take advantage of that athleticism in the bowl game.

“We’ve added some stuff to the playbook that we haven’t ran ever,” Labas said. “It’s pretty good. I feel very confident about it, and I’m excited about it.”

Kentucky will also unleash a dual-threat quarterback

Over in Lexington, there is also a program that is attempting to get an inexperienced quarterback ready for a bowl game against one of the best defenses in college football. Redshirt freshman Kaiya Sheron earned a start earlier in the season, but the Cats could turn to true freshman Destin Wade on New Year’s Eve.

The former four-star recruit has yet to see game action this fall, but interim offensive coordinator Vince Marrow likes what he’s seen from the rookie during bowl prep. Kentucky’s recruiting coordinator seemed to point at Wade being the starter for this upcoming bowl game.

“We add just a little bit to go to the quarterback’s strength,” said Marrow. “The greatest thing about our offense is we got Eddie Gran still who is in here, so you can always go in the archives and play that type of quarterback. But when I recruited Destin Wade, he’s a winner. That’s what people don’t realize. He’s a winner and won a very high league. He can make every throw, he’s athletic so we’re just going to put a little bit in. You put a little bit of the offense we had with the last coordinator and then you go with that.”

Sounds like both the Hawkeyes and Wildcats are adding a dual-threat element to the offense.