Kirk Ferentz: Iowa football’s offense ‘starting to click a little bit’ as season nears

IOWA CITY — Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz didn’t definitively announce a starting quarterback Thursday for the Aug. 31 season opener against Illinois State. He did, however, offer what the current pecking order would look like if Iowa were playing this week:

1. Cade McNamara
2. Brendan Sullivan
3. Marco Lainez

That’s on par with what has largely been expected. 

The quarterbacks’ performance during the Aug. 10 Kids Day at Kinnick open practice stirred some concern externally, particularly about McNamara, who struggled mightily. But Ferentz sounded optimistic about what he has seen recently. 

“There’s been some back and forth, some ups and downs, those types of things,” Ferentz said Thursday. “But both guys this week have just looked more comfortable and they’ve done a lot of good things. Cade’s done a really nice job. I think he’s had a really good week. And I think Brendan’s done the same thing.”

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The last two years have been tumultuous for McNamara, who suffered consecutive season-ending knee injuries. He has appeared in just eight games combined over the last two seasons, so there are bound to be bumps on the road as he gets set for the 2024 season. The hope is that leads to results in the end.

“It’s just good to see him the last couple days look more relaxed,” Ferentz said. “He wasn’t pressing, trying to force things and things like that. And I’m no expert on quarterback play but I know you can’t do that stuff. And it’s the first time I’ve seen him, stand there on the field with him, where he looked like he’s more comfortable. And just maybe a little bit more feeling better about his whole world, if you will.”

Ferentz said both McNamara and Sullivan have been getting reps with the first-team offense, indicating there isn’t a wide gap between the two. Ferentz was asked on Thursday if Iowa would consider going into a game with a plan of using both.

“We’ll consider anything,” Ferentz said. “The game plan would probably look a little different for either guy … Our preference is to have a 1, 2, 3. We’ll see how that shakes out. But we’re gonna keep an open mind all season long about our entire football team.”

Around this time last year, Iowa’s quarterback room was not in a great place, something that became brutally clear as the season went on. But now with the health of McNamara, the addition of Sullivan and the development of Lainez, it seems to be trending upward.

“The big takeaway is we’re much healthier at that position in terms of game experience, depth, those types of things,” Ferentz said. “And Marco’s doing a good job, too.”

Seeing growth on offense

Despite the fact that Thursday was marred with talk about recruiting violations and suspensions, Ferentz shared a fair amount of promising updates. Ferentz seemed encouraged by what he’s seen as the Aug. 31 season opener rapidly approaches, notably pertaining to development on offense under new coordinator Tim Lester.

“I actually think things are maybe starting to click a little bit,” Ferentz said. “We’ve pushed past the ‘We’re in camp’ mode and seeing some cleaner execution. Defensively, we’ve got a lot of veteran presence there. Offensively this is all new. And I think it’s starting to click a little bit for them. 

“We’re gonna have some ups and downs when we start playing competitively. But I think we’re making progress and the guys have been nothing but willing and anxious to learn. Most importantly, they’re demonstrating that it’s starting to resonate a little bit with them.”

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Beyond the quarterback position, wide receiver is another question mark on offense. On top of that, Kaleb Brown will miss the season opener against Illinois State as punishment for a June arrest on charges of OWI and possession of a fictitious license, ID card or form. Wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr is also suspended for the game, along with Ferentz, due to a potential recruiting violation.

Still, Ferentz has continued to talk up the wide receiver unit. It’s somewhat surprising given the struggles of that group over the past few seasons, coupled with the fact that they are young and unproven entering this campaign.

“I’m really optimistic about that group,” Ferentz said. “I don’t know what it’s gonna look like here the first couple of weeks, literally like who’s gonna be playing or how much, that type of stuff. But I think the potential right now for growth in that room and the potential for that becoming a really productive unit, I think it’s there for us.”

One name Ferentz spoke at length about was receiver Jacob Gill. The Northwestern transfer didn’t come in with eye-popping numbers, but apparently he has carved out a niche on the offense leading up to the season.

“He’s been really just a great addition,” Ferentz said of Gill. “The (transfer) portal’s an interesting place. We don’t live there full-speed. But we thought he’d be a guy that could maybe help our football team, and he’s just been a great addition. Really focused, really mature. He’s got a veteran presence and really workmanlike the way he goes about what he does, how he practices, how he prepares, everything about him in this building. Really exemplary and not a loud demeanor, but just shows up every day and really performs. So he’s been a really good influence on a very young group.”

A couple other areas of note are depth on the offensive and defensive lines. On the O-line, Ferentz mentioned Tyler Elsbury and Nick DeJong as players not expected to start who could add quality depth. On the defensive line, which arguably has bigger holes to fill, Ferentz pointed to Max Llewellyn, Brian Allen and Jeremiah Pittman as reserves who could play key roles.

Other notes

• Leshon Williams has returned to practice, though he is being limited in terms of volume. Coming off the best season of his college career, the running back has missed time leading up to the 2024 campaign with an injury but now seems to be trending in the right direction. “He made a really nice blitz pick-up coincidentally (Thursday) morning, which allowed us to have a good completion on a play,” Ferentz said of Williams. “So he’s been paying attention, he’s been doing a good job. Hopefully he’ll be good to go.”
• Koen Entringer, expected to be one of Iowa’s top reserves at safety, has been back at practice after missing a significant amount of time due to injury (defensive coordinator Phil Parker already confirmed such earlier in the week): “He looks like he’s fully healthy out there and he is,” Ferentz said of Entringer.
• Redshirt freshman running back Kamari Moulton suffered what seems to be a minor leg injury. Ferentz is hopeful that Moulton will return soon.

Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com