Iowa
Leistikow: Cade McNamara is back again, prepares to lead Iowa football into Maryland
Video: Tim Lester on Brendan Sullivan, Cade McNamara and more QB talk
Iowa football offensive coordinator Tim Lester discusses a variety of topics.
Cade McNamara’s story as an Iowa football quarterback isn’t finished yet.
After losing his job and a two-game absence from a concussion, the sixth-year senior is preparing to lead the Hawkeyes once again.
McNamara has been cleared from his concussion, a source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Register on Monday, and the plan is for him to start in Saturday’s game at Maryland (11 a.m. CT, Big Ten Network).
The news of McNamara’s re-emergence to Iowa’s No. 1 quarterback comes in conjunction with Brendan Sullivan’s ankle injury being worse than initially thought. Sullivan exited Iowa’s 20-17 loss at UCLA in the third quarter after injuring his ankle on a third-down scramble.
Though Sullivan returned to that game for one more series, he was benched after throwing an interception and replaced by Jackson Stratton. Further testing last week showed a serious ankle injury that will cost him the rest of the regular season, the source confirmed. That news was first reported by CBS Sports on Monday.
So, it’ll be McNamara and Stratton, a walk-on, the rest of the way for the Hawkeyes (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten). They’re listed as 6½-point favorites to beat the Terrapins (4-6, 1-6).
For the Hawkeyes, the Sullivan injury is an unfortunate dose of bad news. Despite his three-turnover game at UCLA, he gave the Iowa offense some juice with his dual-threat ability. Sullivan came off the bench to lead a 40-14 shellacking of Northwestern and then a 42-10 rout of Wisconsin before the trip to Pasadena, California. And even when McNamara was the starter, Sullivan offered Iowa a very successful goal-line quarterback option that offensive coordinator Tim Lester was delighted to deploy.
For McNamara, this is one final chance to finish his underwhelming Hawkeyes career on a high note. He committed to Iowa nearly two years ago, as a high-profile transfer from Michigan after leading the Wolverines to the 2021 College Football Playoff. Excitement about McNamara’s arrival was off the charts, and on a subsequent podcast McNamara dared outsiders to doubt the Hawkeyes’ beleaguered offense.
But his Iowa career has been a major disappointment to date.
A combination of major injuries slowed McNamara’s runway in 2023. A quad issue that August left him mostly immobile, and a torn ACL in late September ended his season altogether after just four-plus games.
McNamara came into 2024 with a clean bill of health after knee surgery, and he simply underperformed. His disastrous second half against Iowa State was costly in a dispiriting 20-19 home loss. He committed three second-half turnovers in a 35-7 loss at Ohio State, then was an ugly 3-for-9 in a decisive first half of a 32-20 loss at Michigan State.
Video: Iowa QB Cade McNamara on moving forward from Michigan State loss
QB Cade McNamara discusses a variety of topcis ahead of Iowa’s matchup with Northwestern.
McNamara has not topped 150 yards passing in any of his nine starts against power-conference competition as a Hawkeye.
Now, though, comes a chance to finish strong as a supporting cast also regains health following the team’s second off week. McNamara will face the nation’s 123rd-ranked passing defense in Maryland, one that allows more yards per game (262.7) than any other Big Ten team.
Iowa also is expected to get the return of linebacker Jay Higgins on Saturday, a Register source confirmed. Head coach Kirk Ferentz expressed optimism after the UCLA loss that tight end Addison Ostrenga also would be back after missing five games with an upper-body injury. If Ostrenga and No. 1 tight end Luke Lachey (quad bruise; nine snaps at UCLA) are back in the fold, that plus the Big Ten rushing leader in Kaleb Johnson should give McNamara every chance to succeed. It’s possible that starting wide receiver Reece Vander Zee (stress fracture) could return at Maryland, too.
A Black Friday home game against reeling Nebraska (5-5, 2-5) closes Iowa’s regular season. There is a path for Iowa to finish 8-4, in which case it’s almost certainly a trip back to Tampa for the Dec. 31 Reliaquest Bowl against a Southeastern Conference team to be determined. A 9-4 season, with McNamara finishing the deal, is not out of the question.
The Hawkeyes being a nearly touchdown favorite in College Park, Maryland, shows that oddsmakers are optimistic that Iowa won’t be held back by quarterback play.
No, McNamara will not be able to do enough to suddenly make his two-year Iowa career a resounding success. But he does have captain-level support from his teammates, who will undoubtedly be prepared to rally around McNamara to the 2024 finish line.
Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has served for 30 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad’s text-message group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on X.
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Repeat offenders convicted of multiple serious crimes would receive a mandatory 20-year prison sentence under a bill passed by House lawmakers.
House lawmakers debated for more than an hour about high costs, lack of prison space and the bill’s impact on Black Iowans before voting 68-23 to pass House File 2542, sending it to the Iowa Senate.
Seven Democrats, including Minority Leader Brian Meyer, D-Des Moines, joined Republicans in voting in favor of the bill.
“It will put public safety first,” said the bill’s floor manager, Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison. “It will ensure that the debt to victims and society is paid. It will prioritize victims and public safety over criminals. It will establish real and effective deterrence that is nonexistent in our current system. It will reduce chaos and violence in our society.”
Here’s what to know about the bill.
What would the House Republican three strikes bill do?
Iowans who accumulate three strikes would face a mandatory 20-year prison sentence, with no parole, under the bill.
That would replace Iowa’s current law that says habitual offenders must serve a minimum three-year prison sentence before they are eligible for parole.
All felonies, as well as aggravated misdemeanors involving sexual abuse, domestic abuse, assault and organized retail theft would be considered level-one offenses that are worth one full strike.
Other aggravated misdemeanors, as well as serious misdemeanors involving assault, domestic abuse and criminal mischief would be considered level-two offenses worth half a strike each.
Lawmakers amended the bill to remove theft, harassment and possession of a controlled substance from the crimes that would count toward a person’s strikes.
And the amendment specifies that the bill would only apply to convictions that occur beginning July 1, 2026.
If someone is arrested and convicted of multiple offenses, only the most serious charge would count towards the defendant’s strikes.
Convictions would not count toward someone’s total if more than 20 years passes between a prior conviction and their current conviction.
Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to say that only a violent crime would qualify as someone’s third strike, but Republicans rejected the amendment.
“The bill still scores murder, felony embezzlement and felony theft the same, even though they are very different crimes,” Wilburn said. “One point is one point and three gets you 20 years with no ability for parole or judicial discretion.”
Holt said the legislation leaves room for judicial and prosecutorial discretion.
“There are deferred sentences, there are plea bargains,” he said. “There is plenty of opportunity for grace and judicial discretion in the legislation that we are proposing.”
Bill could cost millions, require Iowa to build a new prison, agency says
A fiscal analysis of the bill by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency said it could cost Iowa nearly $165 million more per year by 2031 based on the cost of housing inmates for longer prison stays.
- FY 2027: $33 million
- FY 2028: $66 million
- FY 2029: $99 million
- FY 2030: $132 million
- FY 2031: $164.9 million
The agency said if the bill had been in effect between fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2025, there would have been 5,373 people who qualified for the 20-year mandatory minimum sentence.
“An increase in the prison population due to increased (length of stay) will require the DOC to build additional prison(s),” the agency states. “The size, security and other features that a future prison may require cannot be determined, but costs would be significant.”
The analysis noted that South Dakota appropriated $650 million last fall to build a 1,500-bed prison.
As of March 1, the Iowa Department of Corrections’ website describes the state’s prison system as being overcrowded by 25%, with 8,705 inmates compared to a capacity of 6,990.
The Office of the State Public Defender could see a projected cost increase of $1.6 million due to an increased number of trials resulting from the legislation.
But the agency’s estimates come with a caveat — the Department of Corrections did not respond to its requests for data.
“The LSA has not received a response to multiple requests for information from the DOC,” the note states. “Without additional information, the LSA cannot estimate the total fiscal impact of the bill.”
Holt called the fiscal note “an embarrassment to the Department of Corrections” and “an agenda masquerading as math.”
“It is clear, in my judgment, that because they did not like the legislation they went all out and extreme to create a fiscal note that cannot be taken seriously in its assumptions,” he said. “It assumes that nothing will change, that there will be no deterrent factor and that the numbers will continue as usual.”
Black Iowans would be disproportionately impacted by the law
The Legislative Services Agency analysis says the bill “may disproportionately impact Black individuals if trends remain constant.”
Of the 29,438 people convicted in fiscal year 2025 of felonies and aggravated misdemeanors that constitute a level one offense under the bill, the agency said about 70% were White, 22% were Black and 9% were other races.
Iowa’s overall population is 83% White, 4% Black and 13% other races, the agency said.
It’s not clear how the bill’s impact would change to account for the House amendment removing some crimes from counting towards the three strikes.
“Expanding three-strike laws will intensify disparities — and that’s what this statement shows — by mandating longer sentences, limiting judicial discretion,” Wilburn said. “We already have a habitual offender statute. We already have one in place. We have a 10-year low in recidivism in our correctional system.”
Rep. Angel Ramirez, D-Cedar Rapids, said California’s three strikes law, passed in the 1990s, worsened racial disparities, and “Iowa is about to repeat the same mistake.”
“I urge every member here, do not pass legislation that our own minority impact statement tells us will deepen inequality in our state,” Ramirez said.
Holt said minority communities in Iowa are impacted by crime and that the legislation “will make citizens of all colors safer.”
And he said the minority impact statement “tells only one side of the story, doesn’t it? It tells the criminal’s story. What about the victim’s story?”
“What about the mother who will continue to tuck her kids in at night and read them Bible stories because she never became the next victim of a violent career criminal?” he said. “Where is that data point in the minority impact statement?”
House lawmakers also approved separate legislation that would increase Iowa’s statewide bond schedule, Senate File 2399.
That bill passed on a vote of 74-19.
Iowans could see more information on judges’ rulings
Iowans would have access to more information about judges’ rulings ahead of the state’s judicial retention elections under a separate measure, House File 2719, which passed on a 73-19 vote.
The Iowa secretary of state’s office would be required to publish information including:
- The percentage of cases in which the judge set a bond amount lower than the state’s bond schedule
- The frequency that the judge releases someone on their own recognizance for a violent offense compared to a nonviolent offense
- The frequency that the judge’s final sentence is lower than statutory recommendations or a prosecutor’s recommendations
- The number of times the judge issues a deferred judgement, deferred sentence or suspended sentence
- The number of times the judge’s rulings are reversed on appeal due to abuse of discretion or error of law
- The average time it takes the judge to rule on a motion or case
- The number of cases the judge has resolved compared to the number of cases on the judge’s docket
The data would have to be displayed with a five-year trend line beginning five years after the bill takes effect.
The Secretary of State’s Office would also be required to maintain a searchable database of all judicial opinions and orders for the judge’s current term and the preceding six years. The decisions would be redacted when appropriate.
And judges would have the opportunity to write a 2,000-word personal statement on their judicial philosophy or data trends present in their rulings.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Luke Truesdell’s attorney has filed as of Sunday to appeal his sentence to the Iowa Supreme Court.
Truesdell was sentenced last week to three consecutive life sentences plus 50 years for the deaths of four people killed in rural Linn County.
A jury convicted Luke Truesdell, 36, in November on the first-degree murder of Brent Brown, 34; his girlfriend, Keonna Ryan, 26, of Cedar Rapids; and Amanda Parker, 33, of Vinton. They also found him guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Romondus Cooper, 44, of Cedar Rapids.
His attorneys previously argued multiple reasons for a retrial that could potentially be brought up again.
They said that one juror was overheard talking about news on the case.
They also said the prosecutors inflamed the jury, rather than focusing on the facts.
His lawyers said there is no direct evidence that Truesdell committed the murders.
Truesdell’s defense also pointed to Truesdell’s father, Larry Tuesdell, who was found covered in blood at the scene but never fully investigated. Authorities have not been able to locate Larry.
The state disagreed, citing overwhelming evidence including DNA on the murder weapon, eyewitness testimony and video of Truesdell entering the garage where the four people were found dead.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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