Iowa Football: Next week against Illinois is perfect time to try a new QB

Spencer Petras has not lived up to expectations this season. Next week against Illinois provides Iowa the perfect opportunity to try a new quarterback.

No game is ever a guarantee, but the Iowa Hawkeyes‘ next opponent could afford Kirk Ferentz the chance to test the waters with a new quarterback. Iowa travels to Illinois next Saturday, Dec. 5, for a matchup in which the Hawkeyes should be a double-digit favorite.

The 24th ranked Hawkeyes (4-2) defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers 26-20 on Friday afternoon in spite of a poor performance from quarterback Spencer Petras.

Iowa opened the game with a strong aerial attack, and Petras actually looked OK early-on, finishing the first quarter 8-of-11 passing for 95 yards and a touchdown. It was all downhill from that point on.

Petras (6-5, 231) threw a careless interception on 3rd-and-11 with 11:44 remaining in the second quarter that set up Nebraska in Iowa territory. The ensuing drive led to just three points for the Huskers, but it was the process of how Nebraska got there in the first place that mattered most. Nearly the entire game thereafter was a carousel of missed throws and chances.

“Obviously, you can’t do that on the interception,” Petras said after the game. “I just forced it and I was very upset because we take pride in taking care of the football and my number one job is to take care of the ball and limit turnovers, so can’t do stuff like that.

“Real credit to our defense because they only allowed them a field goal after that. That’s real team football. When I mistakes, they have my back, and that’s how we play winning football. Credit to the defense.”

Saturday against Nebraska wasn’t the first time we’ve seen rookie mistakes from Petras. Rather, it was the perfect summary of what we’ve seen all season from the Hawkeyes’ signal caller.

In six games played, Petras has fewer touchdown passes (four) than interceptions (five). He’s thrown for just 1,138 yards, an average of just 190 yards per game. His completion percentage (56.3) and yards per pass attempt (5.9) both rank dead last in the entire Big Ten among starting quarterbacks.

Simply put, Petras is not a Big Ten starting-caliber quarterback. At least, now from what we’ve seen in six career starts. His decision making, accuracy and mental processing are all lagging far behind. Sure, he’s a first-year starter. But we’ve failed to see progression at any point this season. With three years in the Iowa program under his belt, you’d expect to see much more from Petras.

“Growth is painful. One thing about Spencer, he’s wired in. He’s in tune,” said Ferentz. “He knows if he makes a bad play, he knows it probably as much as we do. Probably hurts him more than us, quite frankly, because we’ve had more experience watching those kinds of things.”

This coming Saturday against Illinois could give Ferentz the chance to experiment with a new quarterback, but don’t count on it. Current backup Alex Padilla would be the next man up. Padilla (6-1, 198), a redshirt freshman, saw action against Michigan State earlier this year but only attempted two passes. Behind Padilla is true freshman Deuce Hogan, who many Hawkeye fans are excited to see take the field eventually.

“We don’t have any plans or discussions to make any changes [at quarterback]. Just all about Spencer taking every experience that he gains week-to-week, seeing what he can do to add to his play,” Ferentz later stated. “We feel good about what he’s doing. I think Alex (Padilla) has improved, as well. Those are the two guys getting all the work basically in practice.”

Illinois holds a 2-3 record and has a point-differential of minus-51 in five games played. The Hawkeyes could probably get by with starting a new signal caller, especially when considering the Iowa running game is the focal point of the offense.

It’s unlikely the Hawkeyes will make the switch at any point this season. After Friday’s win, Ferentz reiterated that the Iowa staff is “totally onboard” with their current starter in Petras. That said, Iowa’s quarterback situation can’t get much worse. It might be time for a wake up call against Illinois.