Kirk Ferentz not ready to name starting quarterback vs. Northwestern

IOWA CITY — Kirk Ferentz is not ready to reveal who Iowa’s starting quarterback will be against Northwestern.

The 24th-year Iowa football coach said in his Tuesday news conference he’s letting Spencer Petras and Alex Padilla “work with the ones, rotating them in and out.”

“We’ll just kind of play that out and then make a decision here during the week,” Ferentz said.

Ferentz said the staff will “see how we feel coming off the field” Wednesday and “maybe take it to Friday” before making a decision. He is not planning to rotate quarterbacks in games, “but anything’s possible.”

The question mark at quarterback comes after Iowa benched Petras in favor of Padilla at halftime of Iowa’s 54-10 loss to No. 2 Ohio State. Petras had thrown two interceptions, had a fumble and completed about 43 percent of his passes.

Padilla replaced him and went 5-for-10 for 32 yards with one interception.

Neither quarterback seemed to impress Ferentz.

“Really wasn't much good Saturday, in general,” Ferentz said. “Didn't matter who was in there.”

Petras has been struggling mightily as a fifth-year senior. He has completed 53 percent of his passes while throwing two touchdowns and five interceptions. He has completed 50 percent or fewer of his passes in four of seven games this season.

The in-game sample size for Padilla is small. His second-half performance against Ohio State was the first time he took the field since last year’s Big Ten title game.

Ferentz deflected a question about evaluating Padilla amid a second-half deficit, saying quarterback evaluations are “complicated.”

“Basically everything affects everything,” Ferentz said after going on a side tangent about Barry Sanders. “For quarterback play, it's really complex. So it's not a simple equation.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com