Tim Lester claims he’s not a leadoff hitter – too slow, he jokes – but he was still the first of Iowa football’s coordinators to take the podium on Tuesday during the bye week. Without an opening statement, it didn’t take long for the first-year Hawkeye offensive coordinator to see a 100-mile-per-hour fastball – a question about his starting quarterback. 

Lester flashed a smile, glancing at the floor and letting out a brief sigh. He knew the question would be thrown at him, just not on the first pitch. 

“Everyone’s never healthy at the same time, right?” he said. 

This rhetorical question most specifically applies under center for the Hawkeyes, who wound up playing their fourth-stringer in crunch time against UCLA. With opening-game starter Cade McNamara on the shelf recovering from a concussion, backup Marco Lainez out for the season a thumb injury, and backup-turned starter Brendan Sullivan on the sidelines with a sprained ankle – walk-on Jackson Stratton found himself under the lights at the Rose Bowl. His performance – 3-of-6 for 28 yards – led to a game tying touchdown drive, but wasn’t enough for a victory. 

“He did a pretty decent job progressing,” Lester said of Stratton. “Now, it was a panicked progression. His feet, there was panic. If I want to know what’s going on in your brain, all I’ve gotta do is look at your feet. And if your feet are panicked, then you’re panicked.” 

Iowa fans might also have some panic after Lester gave an update on the quarterback situation. 

“It’ll be interesting on the practice field tomorrow, because we have no clue,” he said. “I don’t know who’s going to be out there. I’m hoping by the end of the day I do, or at least by tomorrow morning.” 

Lester explained that McNamara has returned to lifting weights while Sullivan had imaging done on his ankle, but doesn’t yet have any results. 

“There’s a whole lot of, ‘I don’t knows,’ right now, which is not great answers,” Lester said. “But that’s where we’re at at this point of the season.”

If Stratton were to start on Nov. 26 in Iowa’s next game against Maryland, Lester wouldn’t have confidence in the 20-year-old quarterback, but would still be encouraged. The coordinator said there’s no better substitute than reps, and given Stratton’s place on depth chart for much of the season, that number was limited. Lester, who recruited Stratton from the transfer portal, said he was excited to give Stratton more snaps during the bye week. 

When asked what the case would be if McNamara and Sullivan both got healthy in time for Maryland, Lester seemed excited – proclaiming it would be a competition similar to preseason camps. Then, the coordinator toned down the hype. 

“But I don’t think that’s going to be the case. That’s my best guess,” Lester said. 

As for the passing game, which ranks second-to-last in the Big Ten with 138.8 yards per game,  Lester said it “hasn’t been up to par” and is “nowhere near where it needs to be.” 

With McNamara departing after this season and backup quarterback James Resar shifting to wide receiver, Iowa will have space to fill in its quarterback room. Just like they did last offseason with Stratton and Sullivan, Lester said the transfer portal will be an option just as it would for any position. 

Defensive woes and bright spots 

Phil Parker said he has a sickness. Not one that’s dangerous to his health, but one that’s governed his mind in his decades of coaching. 

“Even if we go out there and win, you’re still critiquing these kids that they could be better, we could coach better, or we could have made a better call,” Parker said. “If you have that never-arrive attitude, and you’re always evaluating yourself, whether it’s a coach or whether it’s a player.” 

Adhering to this philosophy, one could say that the Hawkeye defense has yet to arrive this season. Despite returning eight of its 11 starters from last year, inconsistency has plagued the group this season. From allowing a combined 10 offensive points in wins against Northwestern and Wiscsonsin to conceding over 200 rushing yards to both Michigan State and UCLA, steadiness has been tough to come by. 

“Everybody thinks that you’re going to be just as good as you were last year,” Parker said. “You guys got to understand that every day you go out there, it’s a challenge, OK? You have to earn everything you get, and I think that we’re going to keep on striving and pushing these guys.” 

For Parker, these challenges have come from chunk plays that grant opponents first downs. Against UCLA alone, Iowa conceded five passes of at least 15 yards and nine rushes for more than 10 yards. Parker said these issues are from defenders not being in the right gap or not taking the right angle to the ball. These have to happen on every snap. 

“Our standards are very high, so when you say, ‘Hey, you guys have dropped down a little bit,’ it’s, like, ‘Yeah, from what we expect,’” Parker said. “Guys understand that. And just because you go out and practice doesn’t mean you’re going to play well … You try to have perfect practices to have a chance at playing well on Saturday.” 

One of the reasons for Iowa’s high expectations this season was linebacker Jay Higgins, who was named a semifinalist for the Dick Butkus Award as the nation’s best at the position. The senior suffered a hamstring injury against UCLA and did not play for much of the second half. Backup Jaden Harrell filled in, collecting two tackles and a fumble recovery. 

A junior from Urbandale, Iowa, Harrell has mainly seen action on special teams this season and has nine career tackles. Parker said he doesn’t know Higgins’ status for Maryland, but said Harrell played the middle linebacker spot without many hitches. 

“You got a kid coming in mid-game, that’s a little bit tough,” Parker said of Harrell. “There might have been one time he didn’t set the front right, but that was nerves. The ball’s in the middle of the field, anybody could make that mistake. And I don’t really think it was a mistake. I just think other guys have to adjust to it.”