Cade McNamara can’t play in Michigan rematch he ‘dreamed of,’ but finds other ways to help Iowa against ‘that other team’

IOWA CITY — The possibility of an Iowa-Michigan matchup in the Big Ten championship game has been apparent for a long time.

Michigan had been to the previous two Big Ten championship games; Iowa went in 2021 and came up just short of returning in 2022.

Michigan was the preseason favorite in the Cleveland.com poll of Big Ten beat writers to win the East division, and Iowa was only one vote behind Wisconsin as the West division favorite.

The possible matchup was on Iowa quarterback (and former Michigan quarterback) Cade McNamara’s mind long before any preseason rankings.

“Honestly, once I committed to Iowa, this game was like the only thing I dreamed of,” Iowa’s Cade McNamara said this week on former Hawkeye Matt VandeBerg and his wife Laura’s podcast. “Being able to play this game for the Big Ten championship against them.”

Unlike how McNamara envisioned Saturday’s matchup a year ago, he will not be a part of it on the field as he continues to recover from season-ending knee surgery. McNamara’s inability to take the field at Lucas Oil Stadium is not stopping him from finding other ways to help the Hawkeyes, though.

A large part of that for the former third-team all-Big Ten quarterback will be helping Iowa quarterback Deacon Hill with what to expect on the field and off the field in a conference championship game.

“Once it comes Thursday, and it’s like the off day, that’s when you start emotionally preparing for the game,” McNamara said. “Once we get to that point, then I’ll be able to share some of my experience with him in playing in this game specifically.”

But this week, the former Michigan quarterback is “not just getting Deacon ready.”

“I’m getting the entire team (ready) as much as I can because I know so much about that other team,” McNamara said. “From a defensive standpoint, from an offensive standpoint, I’m just doing everything I possibly can from an entire-team standpoint to just let these guys know everything that I possibly know.”

Any peeks behind the maize-and-blue curtain do not seem to have involved wide receiver Nico Ragaini.

“Maybe for like the defensive guys because he played on offense, but for me, no, not really because I play wide receiver,” Ragaini said. “I’ve played Michigan. … I know what to expect.”

Fellow wide receiver Kaleb Brown similarly said they “haven’t double-downed on finding that much of an edge on (Michigan) just yet.”

Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said earlier in the week there had not been any “staff conversation” about using McNamara’s Michigan knowledge although the team had not “really done a lot of game-planning yet” at the time.

“I don’t even want to know,” Ferentz said. “All it does is clutter your mind. I’ve never been one to call other staffs. … I’d rather just look at the film.”

Back at McNamara’s former campus, Michigan players also had been long anticipating the matchup against the ex-Wolverine.

“It was obviously at the forefront of our minds at the beginning of the season to have that chance to play Cade and Erick (All) again,” Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy said.

Instead, McCarthy's predecessor will be on the sidelines as a quasi-coach rather than as McCarthy’s on-field counterpart.

“Now my own team is playing Michigan in the Big Ten championship, and I can’t do anything about it,” McNamara said.

Well, at least not anything on the field.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com