Iowa’s Cade McNamara, Brendan Sullivan ‘battling’ at quarterback during fall camp

IOWA CITY — Cade McNamara and Brendan Sullivan “have been battling” at Iowa’s quarterback position, offensive coordinator Tim Lester said on Big Ten Network’s annual training camp show.

McNamara began fall camp as Iowa’s clear first-team quarterback, but head coach Kirk Ferentz has been relatively noncommittal about the QB1 spot in comments to media since then.

McNamara had a particularly shaky performance in Iowa’s lone open practice of fall camp, frequently struggling to connect on what would normally be high-percentage passes.

McNamara, Ferentz said, is “really making progress right now.”

“He’s missed two years basically,” Ferentz said. “He’s thrown seven-on-seven, things like that, but it’s still not real football. You have to get out there, and you have to operate. You’ve got to be on the field with 11 people on your side and their side. … I think he’s having a good week this week, and hopefully we just keep pushing that forward.”

As Ferentz alluded to, the ex-Michigan quarterback has only played in eight games over the last two years before both seasons were cut short with major knee injuries.

“Was a little skittish earlier, calmed down,” Lester said of McNamara. “He’s better in Phase 2, moving around the pocket now.”

The alternative to McNamara is former Northwestern quarterback Sullivan, who transferred to Iowa after spring practices. Sullivan went 63-of-99 last year for the Wildcats with six touchdowns and two interceptions.

“Brendan’s been a great addition,” Ferentz said. “Just a great young guy, and he’s learning every day. It’s a little different for him. He got here in June, so he’s playing catch-up that way. But I think he’s really a good prospect.”

Sullivan, Lester said, is “natural in the pocket.”

“I think they both make each other better, and we got a long way to go,” Lester told Big Ten Network. “And I coach them. But we have to be better than we were today at least and continue to improve.”

Asked about tiebreakers in a quarterback competition, Lester mentioned footwork, taking care of the ball and the quarterbacks’ work with the second-team offense against the first-team defense.

“I love a quarterback that can take the twos, with technically inferior athletes, and find a way to get first downs against the ones,” Lester said.

Marco Lainez, who appeared as a reserve in Iowa’s 35-0 loss to Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl last season, is “doing a good job, too,” Ferentz said.

Other quarterbacks on the roster include true freshman James Resar and incoming walk-on transfer Jackson Stratton. (Stratton was previously on scholarship at Colorado State.)

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