Iowa senior quarterback Spencer Petras started 17 consecutive games dating back to the 2021 season before a shoulder injury sidelined him ahead of the Minnesota game. That injury opened the door for junior Alex Padilla to start three games against Minnesota, Illinois and at Nebraska.
Petras returned to rescue Iowa in the Nebraska game, rallying the Hawkeyes from a 14-6 halftime deficit and beating the Huskers 28-21 after leading three second-half scoring drives and plunging in from two yards out for the game-winning score. Petras started the final two games of the season, but the results were middling.
Iowa was routed in the Big Ten championship game by Michigan, 42-3. In the loss, the Hawkeyes were held to just 279 yards of total offense. Petras completed 9-of-22 passes for 137 yards before being replaced by Padilla for the game’s final five series.
The San Rafael, Calif., native returned as the starter versus Kentucky in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl and Petras completed 19-of-30 passes for 211 yards with a touchdown. He was intercepted three times against the Wildcats, though, and the Hawkeyes lost 20-17.
Petras’ status as the team’s unquestioned starting quarterback has been in limbo after a season in which he completed just 57.3% of his passes and finished with 1,880 passing yards with 10 touchdowns against nine interceptions.
“I think the good news is that we feel they’re both capable of playing really good football for us. And our goal is to try to get them to play a little bit better and everybody around them helping a little bit more. I think really that’s the story of our offense right now,” Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said of the ongoing quarterback competition.
Petras does own a 13-6 mark as a starting quarterback and helped lead Iowa to the Big Ten west division title last season. Still, he understands that he and the offense need to improve in 2022.
“I think the biggest thing looking back is that I’m too smart of a player to not…
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