At the end of the first half of Saturday's games against Illinois State, fans were hoping to see backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan jog onto the field for the next offensive drive as Cade McNamara was unable to get anything going in the first half.
The Iowa Hawkeyes only scored six points in the first half against Illinois State, and their only real drive for points came late in the second quarter before halftime. Iowa's best field position in the first half came when the defense recovered a fumble on their own 29-yard line, but the offense was only able to move the ball four yards to settle for a field goal.
McNamara struggled to simply complete easy passes to wide-open receivers forcing the team to have to rely solely on the run game. Time and time again, the offense was unable to produce and fans were getting restless in the stands waiting for this new offense they were promised all offseason.
However, in the second half, it is like a whole new quarterback stepped onto the field wearing McNamara's jersey.
From the moment he stepped on the field in the second half to when he was replaced for backups in the fourth quarter, he only had one incompletion and three touchdown passes. McNamara was not only completing passes, but his completions were on the run and low-percentage passes.
Makin' plays 😤@Cademac_12 ➡️ @ZOrtwerth #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/c3DMyTHNyY
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) September 1, 2024
McNamara also showed his versatility with his run game extending plays and even saving some third downs by running past the sticks. That was something fans were happy to see as McNamara is coming back from an ACL injury and his choice to run the way he did showed he is back and not afraid to get hit.
The second half McNamara was the quarterback Iowa fans were hoping to see when the game started, but some rust needed to be knocked off. Now that he has shown that is what he can produce, there will be higher expectations going forward.
In Week 2, Iowa will face Iowa State, who has a solid defense, much tougher than Illinois State's defense, so play calling will have to be more creative, and McNamara will have to show more of what he did in the second half so that the Hawkeyes can move into Week 3 3-0.