When the Wisconsin Badgers and Iowa Hawkeyes face off on Saturday, bragging rights are going to be on the line. Iowa defensive back Sebastian Castro is talking some trash, while the Badgers need to get back on track after blowing a lead against Penn State.
When these two teams face off, though, it won't be Tyler Van Dike vs. Cade McNamara like many of us expected before the campaign got underway. Braedyn Locke will be getting the start for Wisconsin, while McNamara is going to be missing the Week 10 matchup as well.
On Tuesday, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz confirmed that McNamara is in the concussion protocol and he'll be out of action this weekend. Because of his head injury, backup signal-caller Brendan Sullivan will be the one to lead the Iowa offense out onto the field:
Kirk Ferentz confirms Cade McNamara suffered a concussion against Northwestern. But the diagnosis did not come until halftime.
— Jack Lido (@JackLido) October 29, 2024
McNamara took a late hit - a roughing the passer penalty - in the second quarter, and took eight more snaps before being pulled. pic.twitter.com/FEuTuZCHxU
Brendan Sullivan will start for Iowa against Wisconsin in Week 10
The fact of the matter here is that McNamara, before going down with his injury, hadn't been playing well for the Hawkeyes. Fans were calling for Sullivan to see more playing time, which he did against Northwestern. He ended up tossing for 79 yards in the lopsided win.
Now, he's going to be ready to make his first start and he'll be doing so against a pissed off Wisconsin team. Last week against Penn State, the Badgers had a golden opportunity to pull off their biggest upset of the season.
Unfortunately, things didn't go according to plan and a brutal loss was suffered in front of the home fans. Locke knows he wasn't good enough and now he's motivated to silence some of his haters. Sullivan plays the game with swagger and he's a confident young man.
He's known for being a gamer, which is why plenty of Iowa supporters are ready for him to start on Saturday and potentially not give up the job even when McNamara is healthy. Despite that, making your first start in a Big Ten rivalry game is never easy and Wisconsin will look to make life rough for Sullivan. This only makes this game more interesting, but there's reason for Badgers fans to be excited about a potential win being posted.