‘It was the best thing to do’: Kirk Ferentz explains benching Spencer Petras

It finally happened.

After another abysmal half of football, and three Spencer Petras turnovers, Alex Padilla finally got the nod to start the second half. Whatever upside there was, Kirk and Brian Ferentz decided to explore it.

“At that point it was the best thing to do,” Kirk Ferentz said after the game. “It being a tough situation for either quarterback is probably a fair assessment.”

But which Ferentz made the call?

“It was Brian,” Alex Padilla said. “He told me just before halftime and then got prepared during halftime.”

Well, we’ll cut to the chase. Both quarterbacks played half of football against Ohio State, both… left a lot to be desired.

Spencer Petras: 6/14, 49 yards passing, 2 interceptions, 5.9 QBR

Alex Padilla: 5/10, 32 yards passing, 1 interception, 3.1 QBR

The results were nearly identical. The reaction after the game was too.

“Obviously it’s frustrating because our job is to score touchdowns,” Padilla said. “We’re doing things to try and correct it, it’s just not coming together on the field right now.”

In fairness to Padilla, he hasn’t gotten any game reps since last season. As a sophomore he started three games, and the experiment didn’t yield better results. He completed less than 50% of his throws and averaged just 70 yards passing per contest.

Will we get the Alex Padilla sequel? Kirk Ferentz doesn’t have an answer for that, but we’ll find out on Tuesday after the Hawkeyes watch the film.

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