If Iowa fans could tell Kirk Ferentz 'I told you so' about Cade McNamara they would

For weeks, Iowa fans were begging head coach Kirk Ferentz to make a change at the quarterback position because Cade McNamara just wasn't it. McNamara wasn't able to take care of the ball, and he wasn't even able to be simply a facilitator for the Hawkeyes, which is all that offense really needs.

Against Northwestern, the school in which Iowa backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan transferred to the Hawkeyes, McNamara took a big hit, which resulted in a roughing of the passer penalty. McNamara remained in the game for the rest of that drive, which resulted in a punt, and throughout the entire next drive that ended near Iowa's endzone when McNamara threw a pick-six.

For the next drive, Sullivan trotted out onto the field to the loudest cheers the Iowa fans had that day in Kinnick Stadium. They finally got what they wanted and were simply just hoping the McNamara era was officially over.

Going into halftime, Ferentz was very coy about what would happen with the quarterback in the second half. However, Sullivan came out in the second half and led the team to a big victory over his former team.

After the game, things got interesting when Ferentz spoke to the meeting and would never admit to benching McNamara but kept saying he was shaken up on the roughing of the passer penalty. Well, if he was so shaken up, why did he continue to play after the play?

In his Tuesday press conference, Ferentz mentioned that right after the game, he was told McNamara had a concussion that was diagnosed during halftime. However, nothing was mentioned in his post-game press conference. Actually, no one had knowledge of this outside of the Iowa football program. Ferentz said that was the reason Sullivan would be the starter going forward, but something seems a little fishy.

The timing of it all just doesn't quite add up. It feels like, especially with the emphasis on concussions, if there was a fear of that with McNamara, he would have come out of the game immediately. Plus, the fact that the news of the concussion came three days later just seems like a good reason to say McNamara is benched instead of saying it is because he just isn't getting it done on the field.

Either way, Sullivan is now the starter for the time being, and in games where he plays the majority of the snaps, he is 2-0. Even though Sullivan isn't lighting up the stat sheet throwing for 200 or 300 yards and in both games hasn't even thrown for over 100, he is doing the job that needs to be done.

When he is tasked with throwing the ball, he is able to make good, accurate passes to his receivers and let them go to work. He is also a solid rushing threat, which makes the opposing defense have to respect that, which opens up more for star running back Kaleb Johnson. When McNamara was in at quarterback, teams were able to load the box to prepare for Johnson because they knew McNamara wasn't a huge passing threat.

Sullivan might be able to be a. bigger passing threat than what he has shown, but with the way Johnson is playing, there is no reason to not ride the hot hand. So while not all people are one to say "I told you so," Iowa fans are probably thinking it every time Sullivan helps the offense instead of hurting it.