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Iowa QB Spencer Petras talks about first-game jitters, Week 1 matchup vs. Purdue
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Spencer Petras will be taking his first snap as a starting quarterback on Saturday afternoon. This crazy year has presented some unique circumstances, but Petras has always been considered the next guy in line to take over for Nate Stanley.
The new era of Iowa’s offense starts Saturday, when the Hawkeyes travel to West Lafayette to take on Purdue. Starting the season on the road against a B1G West opponent isn’t exactly the easiest way to open the year.
Petras admits there are a few nerves.
“I’m sure I’ll have nerves. Coach Ferentz puts it well, ‘anyone that has a heartbeat, will have some nerves in their first game.’ Something we talk about here is sleeping through the story,” Petras said, per 247Sports. “It’s kind of a story of the captain of the ship that tied his knots correctly. When the waters get choppy and the storm is coming, he can get through because he’s prepared to the best of his ability and I kind of take pride in that. As long as I prepare to the best of my ability this week, I know I have this offseason and this camp, you know, as my head hits the pillow Friday night, I’ll be able to sleep in and I have faith in the fact that we prepared as much as we can, and we just got to go out and play.”
Iowa is coming off a 10-3 season in 2019 and Petras is replacing a three-year starter in Stanley. There are certainly some challenges the first-year starter will face when he steps under center.
But the quarterback is confident in his preparation and how well-prepared his team is to take on Purdue this weekend.
“We made a lot of good progress in camp. Offensively, just making sure that we’re executing the offense and taking care of what we need to be successful and obviously transitioning into a gameplan phase,” Petras said. “We put the emphasis on fundamentals, and it’s still an emphasis, for now, obviously, the emphasis is on Purdue and I think we’ve had a good week of practice so far. We need to finish it out and look forward to competing on Saturday.”
The Hawkeyes will take on the Boilermakers at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB