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Iowa football: The backup quarterback battle is officially over, for now

By Andrew Wade

IOWA CITY, IOWA- SEPTEMBER 15: Quarterback Peyton Mansell #2 of the Iowa Hawkeyes loses the ball during the second half as he is hit by linebacker Rickey Neal #7 of the Northern Iowa Panthers on September 15, 2018 at Kinnick Stadium, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- SEPTEMBER 15: Quarterback Peyton Mansell #2 of the Iowa Hawkeyes loses the ball during the second half as he is hit by linebacker Rickey Neal #7 of the Northern Iowa Panthers on September 15, 2018 at Kinnick Stadium, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /
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In today’s press conference, Kirk Ferentz announced the backup quarterback spot had been decided for the Iowa football team.

When the Iowa football team released their depth chart for the Miami (OH) game, one of our big takeaways was that the quarterback battle had not been decided yet. Under senior quarterback  Nate Stanley on the depth chart was Spencer Petras and Peyton Mansell with a big OR between the names.

We finally got clarification today though when Kirk Ferentz spoke with the media.

Redshirt freshman Spencer Petras has officially been named the number two quarterback against Miami of Ohio with Peyton Mansell being behind him.

Mansell, a redshirt sophomore, joined the Iowa football program as a three-star recruit from the state of Texas. At 6’2” and 205 pounds, he is a bit more of a dual-threat quarterback than what we are using to seeing, sort of in the mold of another former Texas high schooler turned Iowa quarterback, Drew Tate.

Last year, in limited time, he threw 8 passes, completing 5 of them for 83 yards and 1 interception. He also added 31 yards and 1 touchdown on the ground in 8 attempts.

Petras, on the other hand, joined the Iowa football program as a four-star recruit from California. At 6’5” 230 pounds, he is a pure pro-style quarterback who much more resembles Iowa’s current starting quarterback Nate Stanley. He has yet to attempt a single pass for the Iowa football team, but with an average MAC opponent coming to town, the Hawks certainly hope to get him some reps this weekend.

Petras being named the number two quarterback could have big implication going forward, which we will get to more in-depth in another article, but the important thing to keep in mind is this doesn’t mean the battle is over.

In 2016, Nate Stanley won the number two back up job over Tyler Wiegers and even saw 5 games of action, but the following season, there was still a heated quarterback battle between the two. Ultimately, Stanley did prevail and Wiegers ended up transferring.

Next. Three Miami RedHawks to know when they come to Kinnick. dark

Certainly, a lot can happen between now and next August, and you better believe the Iowa football coaches actually mean it when they say there is always competition, but for now, at least for one game, we have some clarity on who’s taking a snap under center if Stanley goes down.