Did Kirk Ferentz just save his job by giving Brendan Sullivan a chance at Iowa?

Last week, Iowa quarterback Brendan Sullivan saw his first real quality action on the field after head coach Kirk Ferentz pulled Cade McNamara after throwing a pick-six against Northwestern to give them a 7-5 lead over the Hawkeyes.

After the game, Ferentz talked to the media and said he didn't send McNamara to the bench but that it was planned all along that his coaching staff would rotate Sullivan in for a few drives. He also alluded to the fact that McNamara was banged up on a play on the drive before when he took a shot on a play where he was intercepted downfield, but it was called back due to a roughing the passer call.

It later came out in Ferentz's Tuesday press conference that the reason McNamara would not be playing against Wisconsin was due to a concussion. However, after looking at the stats, McNamara continued to play after the hit for the rest of the ensuing drive and the next Iowa drive after he threw the pick-six. Ferentz said it wasn't until halftime that McNamara was diagnosed with a concussion, so why not share that after the game? It just seems like some excuses are being made to spare McNamara's feelings, but if he is hurt, I guess he is hurt.

However, this piece is about Brendan Sullivan and how he came out onto the field and gave a good performance and might have just saved Kirk Ferentz's job.

Sullivan may not have had the most impressive-looking stat line against Northwestern, going 9-for-14 for 8- yards, with his longest pass being 40 yards. He also was great on his feet. However, Sullivan was working all over the field, with eight carries for 40 yards and a touchdown. He was instrumental in a lot of plays, such as making passes and then rushing down the field to block for the person he just threw the pass to.

All season long, fans have been begging Ferentz to just give Sullivan a chance because McNamara was just unable to get it done. The Hawkeyes brought in a new offensive coordinator, Tim Lester, who has actually been able to give the Iowa offense life, but under McNamara, they were still struggling to get a lot going.

With each game, fans were going back and forth on whether or not they wanted to see Kirk Ferentz go, but the consensus seemed to be that everyone wanted Ferentz gone. However, with this move, he could have just bought himself another year in the eyes of the fans. Granted, the administration probably wasn't going to let him go due to a large buyout since he still has five years left on his contract.

Sullivan will get another chance to truly show what he can do with a full game ahead of him as he has been named the starter going forward, starting with Wisconsin this weekend. The Badgers now have some tape on him from last week and his time at Northwestern, so they will have a game plan, but the way he played last week, he should have some confidence.