Iowa football vs. Wisconsin pregame availability report: Hawkeyes without 2 of top 3 QBs

IOWA CITY — Iowa’s quarterback position is getting thinner and thinner.

Third-string quarterback Marco Lainez is listed as out on the Hawkeyes’ pregame availability report against Wisconsin. He was seen during pregame warmups with his left hand in a cast.

Iowa already is without usual starter Cade McNamara, who suffered a concussion in the Hawkeyes’ 40-14 win over Northwestern.

That leaves Iowa with only two available quarterbacks — Brendan Sullivan and walk-on Jackson Stratton. (True freshman James Resar moved from quarterback to wide receiver and is injured anyway.)

Sullivan — the Northwestern transfer who previously was Iowa’s second-team quarterback — went 9-of-14 for 80 passing yards along with 40 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown after replacing McNamara last week.

Stratton transferred from Colorado State, where he was a 4-of-17 passer with one touchdown and two interceptions.

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Given Iowa’s lack of depth at quarterback, Ferentz said you ask Sullivan “to be smart” when running the ball.

“If he's going to run the ball, slide,” Ferentz said. “I'm fine with that. If we had 10 quarterbacks I'd still ask him to do that. … But you don't want to harness the guy back or throttle him down too much.”

Iowa’s full pregame availability report is below:

Iowa: out

Iowa: questionable

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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