Iowa football: It’s too early to hit the panic button on quarterback Spencer Petras

Iowa has climbed out of an 0-2 hole with back-to-back wins, and now their season has renewed purpose.

However, that has mainly been because of the running game, defense and special teams.

Iowa’s next 3 games are at Penn State, vs. Nebraska and at Illinois. With the way the Hawkeyes are playing, they could be looking at a 5-game winning streak heading into the regular-season finale at No. 10 Wisconsin.

Closing the season on a strong note is first and foremost. If Iowa wants to make the leap from good to great in the B1G, Spencer Petras has to fulfill his potential.

Petras was expected to add a dynamic element at quarterback this season. The sophomore has good size (6-foot-5, 231 pounds) and a big arm.

Not having spring practices due to the pandemic was a blow to the inexperienced Petras, but it was thought that a stacked deck of explosive receivers would ease his acclimation.

Instead, Iowa has gotten uneven play from their new starting quarterback. Based on the expectations, it’s not outrageous to consider Petras the most disappointing aspect of Iowa’s season. Petras has tallied 759 yards, 3 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.

Three of those interceptions came in a Week 2 loss to Northwestern.

Petras ranks near the bottom of the FBS in passing yards per game (192.8/95th), yards per completion (10.6/97th), completion percentage (53.3/107th), yards per attempt (5.6/110th) and average passer rating (101.9/118th).

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz isn’t making any excuses for Petras. But he believes the lack of offseason reps should be taken into consideration.

“It’s just the way it is. With a new quarterback, there’s going to be some growing pains,’’ Ferentz said. “We all knew that. And, I’ll remind everybody it’s a new quarterback without the luxury of a spring practice, which is huge.’’

There have been some turbulent moments for Petras in his maiden voyage under center. But Petras is confident he will ride a wave of momentum into next season.

“Every game, I’m improving, getting more comfortable,’’ Petras said. “I have to keep working to eliminate the turnovers. You’re going to make bad decisions, but just like our football team, we’re getting better week to week, and I think I’m doing the same thing.’’

Petras has shown flashes of good decision-making and made some impactful passes. Unfortunately, this has been juxtaposed with bouts of inaccuracy and impatience in the pocket.

During Iowa’s 35-7 victory at Minnesota last week, Petras completed 9 of 18 passes for 111 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Petras connected on 5 of his first 6 passes, then hit a rough patch before finishing with 3 consecutive completions, including an 8-yard touchdown to Ihmir Smith-Marsette in the flat early in the 4th quarter.

Rule No. 1 of defending the @HawkeyeFootball offense: don’t lose sight of ISM.

They forgot rule No. 1. @_ihmirr_‘s TD has Iowa rolling late in this one. pic.twitter.com/QmCAG6vq4W

— Iowa On BTN (@IowaOnBTN) November 14, 2020

That touchdown was set up by a precise pass on a slant for an 18-yard completion to Tyrone Tracy Jr.

Despite Petras’ inconsistency and backup Alex Padilla’s solid play in practice, Ferentz wisely has the foresight to not make a hasty change. While 4-star freshman Deuce Hogan is waiting in the wings, Petras is the most talented quarterback on the roster, with the highest ceiling.

“But I think I speak on behalf of every coach and every player on our team … we just all have great confidence in Spencer. We have confidence in Alex, too. He’s really grown. We’re just going to keep pushing forward,” Ferentz said. “There’s no question about our confidence in Spencer.”

Petras has the full support of his teammates as Iowa enters the 2nd half of the schedule.

“I’ve always said Spencer is a great quarterback,” Iowa running back Tyler Goodson said. “He has grown tremendously. His first 2 games were obviously not the way he wanted them to go, but Spence comes in with a fresh mind each and every week, ready to lead the team and ready to get a victory. His growth, he is growing tremendously.”

Even though Petras hasn’t been as productive as he’d like, his presence in the huddle is paying dividends.

“Being a 1st-year starter, Spencer has taken command of the offense,” Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum said. “Getting guys where they need to be. I’ve said in interviews before, he just has a leadership mentality, a leadership personality. Which is very beneficial to our team.”

It’s natural for Iowa fans to get antsy waiting for Petras to live up to the billing and praise he received heading into the season. There’s no need to panic about him being a bust, though. The other units have thankfully stepped up while Petras finds his footing.

The B1G title game is probably out of reach this year. Yet if Petras clicks down the stretch, Iowa will have the makings of a complete team capable of contending for the B1G title and beyond in 2021.