Iowa’s Jackson Stratton builds comfort after ‘drinking through a fire hose’

IOWA CITY — Jackson Stratton was “drinking through a fire hose.”

“Learning a lot really quick,” the Iowa quarterback said this week. “Maybe it’s more of a water fountain now.”

The ex-Colorado State quarterback has developed that level of comfort following a rapid change in roles over the last month — from fourth-string walk-on in late October to starter in mid-to-late November.

“The most amazing part from my vantage point is he's been a scout-team player up until a couple weeks ago,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said during his weekly news conference. “That is a lot to get thrown at you.”

Stratton, Ferentz said, “handles things really in stride.”

“He seems to be really steady,” Ferentz said. “Unflappable is probably a strong word at this point because we don’t know him that well.”

Stratton completed 10 of 14 passes for 76 yards in his first career start against Maryland. He did not have any 20-plus-yard completions or touchdown passes, but he also did not have any turnovers.

“He didn't play perfect the other day, but he did a lot of really good things,” Ferentz said. “I was really impressed with his poise, (his) ability not to get in trouble, which is easier said than done sometimes, especially at that position because you're involved in every snap. … A lot of things can go wrong.”

It was his first extended in-game opportunity of his college career — whether it be his two years at Colorado State or this year at Iowa. In fact, he took more snaps against Maryland (72), according to Pro Football Focus, than he had in his entire career before Saturday (44).

“The fact that he had a week plus to think about it — one more hurdle to climb,” Ferentz said. “Sometimes you start thinking about, ‘How did I get here? What am I doing here?’ That can work against you a little bit, too.”

It helps that Iowa ran the ball a staggering 81 percent of the time against Maryland and finished with 268 rushing yards. That included 164 yards from star running back Kaleb Johnson, who now ranks first in program history in single-season rushing touchdowns and third in single-season rushing yards.

“That makes it a lot easier when you could just hand it off to probably the best back in the country,” Stratton said.

It also helped that Stratton went well out of his way to prepare for this opportunity.

Even when Stratton had a full plate on scout team earlier in the year (and had no realistic path to playing at the time behind Cade McNamara and Brendan Sullivan), he spent extra time with analyst Keller Chryst to go over that week’s game plan.

“You have to be dialed in every week,” Stratton said. “I’ve been in college. I’ve played, I’ve been at another school. I know what it takes to be a great quarterback, and that’s what it takes. You have to be in the film room. Have to be getting better every day. Doesn’t matter where you’re at on the depth chart.”

Fast-forward to Stratton’s sudden ascent in the quarterback pecking order, and that time with Chryst has been a “great help.” And now, he can exclusively focus on Iowa’s game plan (and not worry about the scout team).

“It’s definitely nice just being able to focus on one game plan instead of two,” Stratton said.

As wild of a transformation as Stratton has experienced — not having a college home in May, being the fourth-string quarterback in October and then starting in November — he has at least one more start to worry about this year before he can really dwell on what has happened.

“I don’t think it’s time to reflect now,” Stratton said. “I know we got another game coming up. But definitely my parents were very happy after the game. They talked to me, talking about where I was six months ago or something like that.”

Now as he prepares for Nebraska, Stratton will be drinking from a water fountain — figurative, not literal. A literal one might freeze with game-time temperatures potentially being in the low 20s or even 10s.

It will beat the time Stratton was in minus-14 degree weather against Air Force in a couple different ways, though.

“Playing in it is way better,” Stratton said after not playing in the frigid Air Force game. “You’re moving around, you’re all warm. It’s worse when you’re just sitting on the sidelines, just sitting in the cold.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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