INDIANAPOLIS – The black and blue inside Lucas Oil Stadium received a splash of gold Wednesday when Kirk Ferentz, his tie, and the Iowa Hawkeyes strolled in for Big Ten Football Media Days. Ferentz, entering his 26th year at the helm, boasts a veteran defense but has lingering question marks on the offensive side as new faces adorn the most recent depth chart. 

While Iowa’s Big Ten foes feature transfer additions starting under center, the Hawkeyes return last season’s Week 1 starter Cade McNamara, who is recovering from an ACL injury he suffered in September. McNamara, who finished 2023 with 505 passing yards, four touchdowns, and a 51 percent completion percentage across five games, is listed as QB1 ahead of backup Marco Lainez and third-stringer Brendan Sullivan 

Ferentz said McNamara was the definitive starter, as he carries the most experience, but added the quarterback spots below him are still fluid. Sullivan, a transfer from Northwestern, started eight games over two seasons for the Wildcats, while Lainez has thrown only seven passes in his college career, all in mop-up duty at the 2024 Citrus Bowl. 

Kaleb Brown headlines Iowa’s receiving corps after a breakout sophomore campaign but was charged with an OWI in June.

“All that matters right now is how he responds, how he defines it, how he wants to answer it,” Ferentz said of Brown and his charges. “It’s like a team losing a game; you can’t go back and change yesterday so what are we going to do going forward? So far so good.” 

Starting alongside Brown is Jarriett Buie, who saw action in his first collegiate season in 2023, but doesn’t have a catch. 

“The good thing about receivers, in my opinion, is that they don’t have to be 20-game starters to play,” Ferentz said. “We need guys to have production that they didn’t have the year before. That’s been the history of our program and Jarriett is certainly a candidate for that. He’s good a good work ethic, good skills.” 

Other noticeable starters on the depth chart include John Nestor at cornerback and Beau Stephens at left guard. Hailing from Chicago, Nestor appeared in 10 games, collecting two tackles while playing behind former Hawkeye standout Cooper DeJean.

Ferentz said at the beginning of spring camp, he and the coaching staff weren’t sure they would have contenders to fill DeJean’s void, but with fall camp around the corner, Nestor and fellow corner T.J. Hall have inserted themselves as legitimate options. 

Stephens started 10 games at right guard in 2022 but battled injuries the following year and only appeared in five games. Ferentz said the 6-foot-6, 322-pounder from Blue Springs, Missouri, is one of several options for the Hawkeyes at the right guard spot, as veteran Nick DeJong has versatility at both tackle and guard. DeJong, who opted to return for an extra season of eligibility, sits behind Connor Colby at right guard. 

As a former walk-on turned scholarship player, Hawkeye safety Quinn Schulte knows firsthand the constant mobility one can have on the totem pole. His advice for starters and backups alike – don’t get complacent. 

“[Nestor’s] just got to keep working, and so do all the other corners behind him,” Schulte said. “It’s important for everyone to take [the depth chart] with a grain of salt and not really worry too much about it.” 

Aside from fresh faces on the depth chart, the Hawkeyes will see some unfamiliar sights in 2024, as they venture westward to California to take on UCLA at the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1986, when the Bruins emerged victorious, 45-28, spoiling the Hawkeyes’ quest for a national title. 

In its Big Ten debut season, UCLA will chart plenty of miles, making trips to Hawaii and LSU in Weeks 1 and 3, respectively, before embarking to the Northeast for faceoffs against Penn State and Rutgers. 

Roaming the sidelines for the Bruins is first-year head coach Deshaun Foster, a former star running back at the school who was inducted into the university’s fall of fame in 2022. Filling in for the fired Chip Kelly, Foster’s unit saw two transfers out at the quarterback position but kept 2023 routine starter Ethan Garbers, who tossed for 1,136 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. 

Garbers will have a new voice in his ear as Eric Bienamy takes over as offensive coordinator. Bieniemy held that position for five years while with the Kansas City Chiefs, winning two Super Bowls alongside Patrick Mahomes. After a one-season stint in Washington with the Commanders, Bieniemy departed the NFL after 16 years of coaching experience, which has made itself known among the Bruins. 

“He will scream at you if you’re not doing the right thing, but he is your No. 1 fan when you do the right thing,” Garbers said, adding that Bieniemy has walked him through film of Mahomes. “He’s the perfect balance between your best friend and your coach.” 

Iowa will also hit the road to East Lansing to take on Michigan State, which hired Jonathan Smith this offseason after ousting Mel Tucker in September. Smith, who led Oregon State to three consecutive bowl appearances before taking on the Spartan job.

Smith’s second-string quarterback with the Beavers, Aidan Chiles, made the same switch as his head coach, joining the Spartans as 247 Sports’ No. 1 QB transfer. The 18-year-old Chiles played in nine of the Beavers’ 11 games in 2023, threw for 309 yards and scored seven touchdowns as a true freshman. 

Chiles, alongside North Dakota transfer Tommy Schuster, is the only player in the QB room with reps beyond high school, but the Spartans are noticing great strides under center. 

“Aidan’s been a great leader for us as an offense, and that quarterback room is like a family in itself,” Michigan State running back Nathan Carter said. “This fall camp will be huge for us to continue to improve on what we learned in the spring to hopefully score a lot of points this season.” 

Similarly, when Iowa hosts Nebraska in prime time for the Heroes Trophy, the Hawkeyes might cross paths with another teenager under center in Dylan Raiola, a five-star 19-year-old prospect hailing from Buford, Georgia. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Raiola was originally committed to Georiga but flipped to Nebraska, where his father was an All-American at center. 

Cornhusker coach Matt Rhule did not commit to Raiola as the No. 1 option, saying that the squad features multiple quarterbacks who can play right away, such as Heinrich Haarberg, who led the team in rushing yards last season. Even if he isn’t atop the depth chart just yet, Raiola appears to be following Schulte’s advice about taking nothing for granted. 

“He’s always in the facility super early and one of the last ones to leave,” Nebraska center Ben Scott said of Raiola. “Always watching film, deep in the playbook. As a quarterback, they’re going to ask a lot of you and I think he’s ready for the challenge. He’s very detail-oriented.”