116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Iowa QB Brendan Sullivan expected to miss rest of regular season with ankle injury
Cade McNamara is Iowa’s first-team QB on depth chart again ahead of Maryland game
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
IOWA CITY — Iowa quarterback Brendan Sullivan is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with an ankle injury, a source confirmed to The Gazette on Monday morning.
Sullivan took over for previous starter Cade McNamara during the Oct. 26 game against Northwestern and started two games for the Hawkeyes before exiting in the second half of the Nov. 8 UCLA game with an ankle injury. Before that, his usage was limited to red-zone situations.
The Northwestern transfer had completed 68.6 percent of his passes this season while throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also gave Iowa a mobile threat, rushing for 144 yards and four touchdowns.
Iowa already is without redshirt freshman quarterback Marco Lainez, who suffered a hand injury in practice last month and required surgery. That leaves McNamara and Jackson Stratton as Iowa’s other quarterback options for its regular-season games against Maryland and Nebraska.
McNamara was listed as the first-team quarterback on Iowa’s Week 13 depth chart, which was released Monday afternoon, with Stratton backing him up.
McNamara missed Iowa’s last two games as he recovered from a concussion, but offensive coordinator Tim Lester said last week he was “getting close” to returning. Before the injury, the ex-Michigan quarterback completed 60.5 percent of passes while throwing six touchdowns and five interceptions.
Stratton went 3-of-6 for 28 yards when taking over for Sullivan in the loss to UCLA. He arrived at Iowa as a walk-on after two years on scholarship at Colorado State. He was 4-of-17 with one touchdown and two interceptions in his time with the Rams.
Iowa’s next opponent, Maryland, is tied for 46th nationally with nine interceptions this season. The Terrapins rank 17th out of 18 Big Ten teams, though, with 7.73 passing yards allowed per attempt.
Other depth chart notes
- Jay Higgins is Iowa’s first-team middle linebacker on the depth chart despite exiting Iowa’s Nov. 8 game against UCLA with an injury.
- Tight end Addison Ostrenga is back on the depth chart after missing more than a month with an injury. He was no longer wearing a sling when the Hawkeyes went to UCLA, and Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said afterward Ostrenga had a “realistic chance” of playing against Maryland.
- True freshman wide receiver Reece Vander Zee remains off the depth chart. Ferentz said after the UCLA game there was “a little more gray area” with Vander Zee’s status.
- Monday’s news comes with the usual caveat that the early-week depth chart can often deviate from what fans actually see on Saturday. Ferentz’s weekly news conference will be on Tuesday afternoon.
Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com
Sign up for our curated Iowa Hawkeyes athletics newsletter at thegazette.com/hawks.
Daily Newsletters