Iowa football has yet to score a passing touchdown through 2 games this season. In large part, QB Spencer Petras has been the problem in terms of commanding the offense.

The senior quarterback might be on his last rope entering Saturday’s matchup against Nevada before the start of conference play. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz announced that Petras would start, but could be swapped out for redshirt junior Alex Padilla should he struggle.

When asked if the decision to start Petras was a consensus choice by the staff, Ferentz declined to give a clear-cut answer (via 247Sports):

Q. The QB, is it unanimous among coaches, or is it just your call?
KIRK FERENTZ: Well, that’s something I wouldn’t share, but I think we’re together as a program, and it doesn’t mean everybody has to agree 100 percent. But I think we’re together, yeah.

Petras has struggled in his past 2 starts to find any consistency moving the football through the air. Against FCS South Dakota State, he completed just 44% of his passes for 109 yards while throwing an interception. In the team’s 10-7 loss to in-state rival Iowa State, Petras was worse. He finished Saturday 12-of-26 passing for 92 yards with an interception and a lost sack-fumble.

The turnover eventually led to a game-leading 8-yard touchdown pass from ISU QB Hunter Dekkers to Xaiver Hutchinson. This season, Petras has completed just 45% of his passes and averaged 3.9 yards per attempt.

For his career, Petras has completed 56.1% of his passes for 3,675 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions.  The Hawkeyes will kick off against the Wolfpack from Kinnick Stadium on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. E.T.