Hawkeye Football: Cade McNamara Officially Off Iowa Depth Chart

The Iowa Hawkeyes escaped Saturday night’s matchup with the Michigan Spartans with a win. It was ugly for long stretches but ended with jubilation for those in attendance under the lights of Kinnick Stadium.

However, the win came at a cost for Iowa as starting QB Cade McNamara left after Iowa’s second series with an apparent knee injury. While the centerpiece for this offense is still awaiting MRI results on Monday, he is expected to be done for the season.

In his stead, backup Deacon Hill, a transfer from Wisconsin, stepped in and delivered a solid performance in Iowa’s win. Now, it appears this is Hill’s team to lead for the remainder of 2023 as the Hawkeyes released their official depth chart for the week 6 matchup with Purdue with no Cade McNamara to be found.

Noted Notables

• Obviously, the big one is McNamara. It’s not a surprise but it’s still a bit jarring to see on paper. Again, it’s not 100% confirmed until Kirk Ferentz addresses the media, but the assumption based on initial testing is that McNamara tore his ACL and will miss the remainder of the 2023 season. That thrusts Deacon Hill into the starting role with Joe Labas, the only returning QB from a season ago, now the official backup.
• Elsewhere on offense, it’s worth calling out some movement on the offensive line. Last week, Connor Colby was bumped from the starting lineup after missing most of the week of practice. Rusty Feth took his spot at guard with Nick DeJong on the other side. DeJong departed Saturday’s contest with an arm injury and we saw Colby step back in despite missing the week of practice. Now we see Colby listed as a starter again while DeJong is still listed post-injury. This will be one to keep an eye on through KF’s presser and the availability report on Saturday.
• The only other one worth mentioning here is RB. We’re going on three weeks now since we’ve seen Kaleb Johnson and nearly as long since Jaziun Patterson stepped on the field. The Iowa running game continues to struggle despite flashes at times from both Leshon Williams and Kamari Moulton. Ferentz wouldn’t provide much insight into the injuries post-game on Saturday, but perhaps we’ll get some info on their practice pattern at Kirk’s Tuesday presser.

The Hawkeyes are set to play host to Purdue on Saturday afternoon for a 2:30pm CT kickoff. This week’s matchup will be broadcast on NBC’s streaming platform, Peacock.