The Iowa offense wakes up with Brendan Sullivan under center in win against Northwestern

When Brendan Sullivan transferred from Northwestern to Iowa in the spring, and the Hawkeye's schedule was released, he probably circled the game against Northwestern right away in hopes that he would be in as the Hawkeye's quarterback. Well, Sullivan did get to play against his former team, but he didn't start against them.

All season long, fans and the media have continually questioned why Cade McNamara was still on the field for the Hawkeyes, as his production was just not cutting it for Iowa. The reason Iowa has had any life in their offense this season is that running back Kaleb Johnson is the workhorse for this team, with 1,144 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns on the season.

Kirk Ferentz defended his choice to keep McNamara at quarterback by saying that he was shown enough to be the starter, yet another thing that fans questioned. Well, clearly against Northwestern today, Ferentz saw enough for McNamara to be benched as he pulled his sixth-year transfer from Michigan after he threw a pick-six that gave Northwestern a lead over the Hawkeyes.

On the next offensive drive, Sullivan trotted onto the field to the loudest cheers the stadium had heard all day up to that point. It took a couple of drives for the Hawkeye offense to adjust to Sullivan being in the game. some receivers were dropping well-thrown passes, but that could be because they aren't used to getting hit in the hands with a pass.

Just before halftime, though, Brendan Sullivan led the Hawkeyes on a drive that gave them a 12-7 lead going into halftime. Going into the locker room, Ferentz stopped to do his interview, and when asked about the quarterback situation and whether or not McNamara would be on the field in the second half, he said he wasn't sure, and it was something to be talked about at halftime.

The decision was to keep McNamara on the bench as the Michigan transfer never saw the field in the second half as Sullivan led the Hawkeyes to a 40-14 win over the Wildcats to get his first win as an Iowa Hawkeyes on the field.

Sullivan had a highlight of plays using his feet to extend drives and even blocking after a pass. One play that caught their attention was a shove pass to tight end Johnny Pascuzzi, his first catch of the season, and he turned on the jets and ran out in front of his tight end to block for him, making it a 40-yard play. Sullivan then finished off the drive himself with a 6-yard touchdown run and showed a lot of emotion after scoring against his former team.

Sullivan ended the day 9-for-14 for 79 passing yards, which doesn't look flashy, but his legs were what cut up the defense as he had eight runs for 41 yards and one touchdown. Sullivan wasn't the only storyline for the Hawkeyes, as Johnson had himself a day with 109 yards on 14 carries and three rushing touchdowns.

This was the complete game the Hawkeyes had played all season, as the defense showed up and showed out after an embarrassing performance against Michigan State last week. The defense as a whole had two sacks, seven tackles for a loss, two interceptions, three pass breakups, two quarterback hurries, a safety, and one fumble recovery.

Special teams can't be forgotten about when talking about today's game, as punter Rhys Dakin has eight punts for a total of 358 yards, with three of them going for more than 50 yards. Dakin continually pinned Northwestern against their own endzone, making the defense's job easier. Iowa punt returner Kaden Wetjen also had a huge play when he ran a punt back 85 yards for a score, giving that much more momentum to the Hawkeyes.

Sullivan gave the Iowa offense life today, and if McNamara sees the field again this season, fans just might riot on the field. At this point, Sullivan did enough for Ferentz to continue playing him, but all will be seen when the Hawkeyes take the field against Wisconsin next week.