Iowa releases availability report prior to kickoff vs. Purdue
Iowa has released its availability report ahead of kickoff Saturday vs. Purdue. The Hawkeyes will be down nine players, plus quarterback Cade McNamara, who’s out for the season.
Wide receiver Jacob Bostick, cornerback Deshaun Lee, running back Jaziun Patterson, wide receiver Reese Osgood, defensive lineman Anterio Thompson, offensive tackle Nick DeJong, tight end Luke Lachey, tight end Addison Ostrenga and EDGE Chris Reames have all been ruled out for the game. Additionally, offensive lineman Mason Richman is questionable, according to the Iowa availability report.
For Purdue, six players — cornerback Salim Turner-Muhammad, linebacker OC Brothers, cornerback Marquis Wilson, kicker Ben Freehill, EDGE Scotty Humpich and tight end Max Klare — are out. Wide receiver Andrew Sowinski, offensive lineman Daniel Johnson and defensive lineman Khordae Syndor are all questionable.
Iowa is looking to build off last week’s 26-16 victory over Michigan State to improve to 4-1 on the season. Without McNamara for the rest of the year due to an ACL injury, Deacon Hill will take over at quarterback for the Hawkeyes. The Wisconsin transfer got some key reps during training camp while McNamara was down with a leg injury, which is why Kirk Ferentz said he’ll be ready to step up.
“Deacon, unfortunately, has gotten more practice. I don’t mean that in a negative way, but he’s practiced more than a normal No. 2 guy would because of Cade’s first issue,” Ferentz said. “I think that benefited him a little bit tonight. But it’s one thing to practice. It’s another thing to step in there when the game is on the line which it was.”
McNamara entered Saturday’s contest with 459 passing yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions, completing just 50.6% of his pass attempts in his first year with Iowa after transferring from Michigan. His Hawkeyes career isn’t necessarily over, though.
Brad Heinrichs, CEO of Iowa’s Swarm Collective, joined The Morning Drive on KXnO radio on Tuesday and confirmed McNamara will be back with Iowa next season. He was asked if the Iowa’s NIL collective received some kind of “insurance policy” in case of an injury, but said that’s “not the case,” per NCAA rules. McNamara will carry out his deal, and is also set to come back next year.
“These NIL deals cannot be, by rule, performance-based,” Heinrichs said. “So you’re not really insuring against anything. Cade’s going to fulfill his end of the bargain on his NIL deal and get paid handsomely. I can tell you, in talking with him and his father, he’s coming back next year. We’re gonna be loaded to bear next fall with Cade McNamara — a healthy Cade McNamara — under center.”