With Brendan Sullivan-led red-zone package, Iowa’s offense has ‘one more dimension’

IOWA CITY — Iowa football has not always been a place to embrace multiple-quarterback systems.

“I think if you’re rotating quarterbacks, that means you have no quarterbacks,” then-Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz said back in March 2022.

But Iowa seems to be adapting under new offensive coordinator Tim Lester, as evident Saturday in the Hawkeyes’ 38-21 win over Troy at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa used multiple quarterbacks (and not because of injury, bad performance or a runaway lead).

Cade McNamara, the ex-Michigan quarterback in his sixth and final season of eligibility, handled the bulk of quarterback responsibilities.

But then when Iowa’s offense was in goal-to-go situations — once in the second quarter and again in the third quarter — Iowa turned to Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan.

“This week when we were talking about those situations, we just thought maybe it would be good to have that in our pocket,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said after the win over Troy. “How much we utilize it or not utilize it, we’ll figure that out as we go.”

Ferentz said there is “no big conspiracy theory or purpose” to the use of Sullivan in goal-to-go situations.

“We thought if he could give us or provide one more dimension, one more thing to the defenses to have to worry about, might have some benefit,” Ferentz said.

Sullivan brings a slightly different quarterback style than McNamara. Most notably, Sullivan has more of a reputation for running with the football.

Sullivan had at least one carry of 10-plus yards in five of his seven games for Northwestern in 2023. That included a 35-yard touchdown run against Howard.

“He offers a little more versatility than Cade does, but Cade scrambled for a little bit the last two weeks too,” Iowa offensive lineman Mason Richman said. “So both of them are pretty capable.”

The bulk of Sullivan’s snaps in the goal-to-go package consisted of simply handing the ball off to either Kaleb Johnson or Hayden Large.

But then on third-and-goal in the third quarter, Sullivan used his mobility on what first appeared to be a quarterback keeper. He then pitched the ball forward to tight end Addison Ostrenga for a 2-yard touchdown pass.

McNamara, when asked about Sullivan’s red-zone opportunities, said he was “just happy that we were able to score.”

“I don’t know what that’s going to look like in the future, but I’m proud that Sully was able to score,” McNamara said.

Sullivan also was at quarterback for Iowa’s final drive, which entailed five handoffs as the Hawkeyes ran off the clock.

That leaves Sullivan, at least for now, 1-for-1 with one touchdown as a Hawkeye.

“Can’t beat that,” Ferentz said with a smile.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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