Kirk Ferentz reaffirms Jackson Stratton is Iowa’s expected starting QB against Maryland

IOWA CITY — All signs continue to point toward Jackson Stratton starting at quarterback for Iowa football against Maryland on Saturday.

"We're not playing yet, but Jackson looks like the guy that will be going,“ Ferentz said on Wednesday during his weekly radio show. ”He'll get the start. Confident that he'll do a great job. He stepped in, did a really nice job in our last ball game. And he’s got a good ability to throw the football, and he’s learning every day. So if he’s our guy, we’ll go with him and see what we can do.“

Stratton, a walk-on, at one point was the Hawkeyes’ fourth-string quarterback behind Cade McNamara, Brendan Sullivan and Marco Lainez. But McNamara has been out since suffering a concussion in Iowa’s Oct. 26 win over Northwestern, and Sullivan is out with his ankle injury from the Nov. 8 loss to UCLA.

Ferentz said the day before during his weekly news conference that McNamara — a sixth-year senior and ex-Michigan quarterback — has been “cleared to play” and practiced on Sunday. Lainez also has returned after recovering from a hand injury that required surgery earlier this season.

“Whether or not (McNamara) can play effectively or not, we’ll see,” Ferentz said on Tuesday. “We’ll just see how the week goes. But we’re prepared for anything, quite frankly.”

Barring a change in the next few days, Saturday will mark Stratton’s first collegiate start. He went 3-of-6 for 28 yards after replacing Sullivan in Iowa’s loss to UCLA. In his two years at Colorado State, Stratton went 4-of-17 with one touchdown and two interceptions.

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