Former Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras enters transfer portal

IOWA CITY — Former Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras has entered the transfer portal, a source confirmed to The Gazette on Monday.

Petras’ decision to enter the portal is no surprise after spending this season on the Hawkeyes’ staff while recovering from major shoulder surgery. His official university classification is a temporary professional employee. As a football employee rather than an athlete, he did not exhaust his final year of eligibility.

Iowa’s current starting quarterback, Deacon Hill, recently praised Petras as Hill works on “maturing and handling myself better” in his first season as QB1.

“Having Spence around me, and Cade (McNamara), to do that with me has been really nice,” Hill said.

Petras was Iowa’s starting quarterback for three seasons. He completed 55.9 percent of his passes last year while throwing five touchdowns and five interceptions.

His statistically-best season as Iowa’s starter was in 2020, when he completed 57.1 percent of his passes while throwing nine touchdowns and five interceptions.

The San Rafael, Calif., native has one year of eligibility remaining. He is a former three-star recruit who had offers from Oregon State, California, Louisville and Syracuse, among other schools.

Iowa’s quarterback room already is slated to have five scholarship players next season, barring any transfer portal departures. Cade McNamara, who is recovering from knee surgery, headlines that group.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com