IOWA CITY − After almost any successful play his team makes on the field, Iowa football quarterback Brendan Sullivan can be seen smiling.
It’s an uplifting sight, to see somebody playing with such joy. Sullivan’s leadership and infectious style have led Iowa to 11 offensive touchdowns, zero field goals and 79 points since he took over from Cade McNamara 6½ quarters ago.
That’s something for the Hawkeyes to really smile about.
“I love playing the game. I love getting the opportunities to play,” Sullivan said. “I know what it’s like not to play, to be a backup and ride the bench a little bit. Just having gratitude that I’m out there able to play with such a good team, such good guys, that’s kind of where it comes from.”
Offensive lineman Gennings Dunker appreciates the leadership that Sullivan has shown since becoming QB1. And with McNamara out with a concussion, Sullivan will be the guy again this week for Iowa (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten Conference) as it travels for a short-week Friday game at UCLA (3-5, 2-4) inside the Rose Bowl. The 8 p.m. CT kickoff will be televised on FOX, and Iowa is favored by 5½ points.
“He’s doing a really good job stepping up, leading, being vocal and being loud about the calls,” Dunker said. “I’m like half-deaf. So, he’s got to be loud. Especially some of the things he needs to see in the defensive rotation, he’s doing a good job with that.”
Let’s take a closer look at Friday’s matchup with three selected questions from my text message group (free for Des Moines Register or Hawk Central digital subscribers).
This is a good chance to be introduced to one of the newest Big Ten members. Iowa and UCLA have not met since the 1986 Rose Bowl (a question on that is coming). The Bruins in the offseason saw their head coach, Chip Kelly, go to Ohio State to accept an offensive coordinator job and replaced him with former UCLA running back Deshaun Foster.
The perception of UCLA was low coming into the season (especially after Foster’s odd podium comments at Big Ten Media Days in July) and early in the season. That was underscored when UCLA lost at home to Indiana, 42-13, in Week 2. But we’ve found out since that Indiana (unbeaten and No. 8 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings) is really good and so is every other team that has beaten the Bruins: No. 1 Oregon, No. 6 Penn State, No. 15 LSU and 6-3 Minnesota.
Quarterback Ethan Garbers has been the biggest catalyst in recent wins at Rutgers (35-32) and at Nebraska (27-20). He has completed 49 of 63 passes (77.8%) for 602 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions plus 104 rushing yards in those victories. Iowa defenders will have to face a multi-threat quarterback, which didn’t go well in East Lansing on Oct. 19 in a 32-20 loss to Michigan State.
“They pass the ball a lot. They haven’t run as much, but they’re capable of that,” Iowa safety Xavier Nwankpa said. “We’ve got to limit their explosives. They’ve had that. In the Rutgers game, that ultimately led to the (outcome).”
More:Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz updates status of Cade McNamara, Luke Lachey
Bottom line: The Bruins are a tougher out than people expected in September, and they return home for the first time since playing Minnesota on Oct, 12, a 21-17 loss that UCLA squandered in the final minute. This will be a tough game.
Love this question, which picks at probably the two most painful Rose Bowl losses of the four in the Hayden Fry/Kirk Ferentz eras. The question also singles out what continues to be Iowa’s best chance to win games: Kaleb Johnson.
Harmon’s infamous four-fumble first half in the 45-28 loss to UCLA on Jan. 1, 1986, still stings. McCaffrey’s ridiculous 380 all-purpose yards (including a 75-yard touchdown on the game’s first play) finished Iowa’s memorable 12-win 2015 season on a sour note.
More:Leistikow’s 4 thoughts: A bucket-list trip to Rose Bowl for Iowa football, Kirk Ferentz
With 1,279 rushing yards, Johnson already has the seventh-best single-season total in Iowa history. He can climb to No. 4 with only 106 yards Friday, which would put him only behind 2008 Shonn Greene (1,850), 1997 Tavian Banks (1,691) and 1995 Sedrick Shaw (1,477).
The big question is how legit is UCLA’s No. 11-ranked national rushing defense? The fact that the Bruins held Penn State to 85 rushing yards on 31 carries is attention-grabbing. And with UCLA owning the No. 116 passing defense nationally (allowing 66.3% completions and 261.3 yards per game), it would seem there could be opportunities through the air for Sullivan.
But given what Sullivan said, don’t expect Iowa to drift from a run game that went for 329 yards on 54 carries against Wisconsin. The Bruins haven’t faced a run game higher than No. 30 nationally (Indiana) this season. Iowa is No. 10. The Hoosiers only attempted 29 rushes (for 123 yards) in that Sept. 7 win.
Expect Johnson and his cohorts, Jaziun Patterson and Kamari Moulton, to make Iowa the first UCLA opponent this season to attempt at least 40 rushes. Iowa has seven 200-yard rushing games out of nine tries this season.
“We’re going to do what we do,” Sullivan said. “No one’s stopped what we’ve done yet.”
Not the same.
Win (and maybe look impressive in the process), and there’s validation for Sullivan as quarterback going into Iowa’s next bye week, into the Nov. 23 game at Maryland and possibly into 2025. Win, and the Michigan State road dud looks like the only big, unexpected hiccup to date for a very good Iowa team. Win, and Ferentz (202 wins at Iowa) is within back-to-back wins away from tying Woody Hayes (205) for No. 1 among Big Ten coaches all-time.
More:Iowa football’s once-scrutinized O-line rebuild has produced an elite unit for Hawkeyes
Lose, and this reinforces that this Hawkeyes team lacked the remarkable consistency it showed last year in assembling a 10-win season with almost no offense. Lose, and we can also reflect on the 2023 record success as a product of terrible opponents and realize that the new Big Ten – even when Iowa has a pretty good team – may never be as manageable again. Iowa’s 2025 schedule (if you dare to look) is a gauntlet.
Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has served for 30 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad’s text-message group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on X.
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