Maryland football will look to end its three-game slide when they host Iowa for Senior Day on Saturday, Nov. 23, but they could do so against a Hawkeye team battling injuries at a key spot.
After starting the last two games, quarterback Brendan Sullivan is expected to miss the remainder of the season due to an ankle injury, per Matt Zenitz. Iowa will likely turn to Cade McNamara against Maryland, who has since been cleared from his concussion per HawkCentral. McNamara has thrown for 1,017 yards and six touchdowns to five interceptions while completing 60.5% of his passes this season. Behind him, depth is thin with redshirt freshman Marco Lainez sidelined with a broken thumb, leaving walk-on Jackson Stratton as the only other available Hawkeye quarterback. Opposing teams have made clear through conference play that the plan to attack Maryland’s defense has been through the air, though Iowa enters Saturday with the second-worst passing offense in the Big Ten, averaging just shy of 139 yards per game through the air.
Luckily for Iowa, they’ll be able to alleviate the pressure on the passing attack with RB Kaleb Johnson leading the Hawkeye offense into their final road game of the season. Johnson enters Saturday leading the Big Ten in total rushing yards (1,328) and total touchdowns (21) and sits second in yards per attempt (7.1). Johnson will be the first of two tough tests for Maryland’s run defense with Penn State and Nick Singleton lurking in the season finale.
Maryland and Iowa will meet for the first time since 2021 when the Hawkeyes stormed out of College Park with a 51-14 win, their third consecutive win in the series, while the Terps’ lone win against Iowa was during the end of the Randy Edsall tenure back in 2014.
Kickoff is set for 12 PM on BTN.
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