How ex-Iowa quarterbacks have fared at their new schools so far in 2024

IOWA CITY — Iowa’s quarterback position has been the epitome of how the transfer portal transformed roster-building in the current era of college football.

Iowa starter Cade McNamara was at Michigan for four years before transferring in late 2022. Backup (and goal-line-situation) quarterback Brendan Sullivan was at Northwestern for three years before entering the portal this spring.

On the other side of the equation, six quarterbacks have transferred from Iowa since 2021 — Deacon Hill, Joe Labas, Spencer Petras, Carson May, Alex Padilla and Deuce Hogan.

With the exception of Padilla, who did not exercise his extra COVID-19 year of eligibility, the other five are on college football rosters in 2024. Here’s how they have fared through the first four weeks of the season:

Spencer Petras

2024 team: Utah State

2024 stats: 36-of-59 (61 percent), 438 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT

Spencer Petras, who is in his final year of eligibility, missed some time after suffering an ankle injury in Utah State’s Week 1 win over Robert Morris. He finally returned for Utah State’s game last weekend at Temple.

Petras has experienced mixed results as an Aggie. His completion percentage is higher than it ever was as a Hawkeye although his three touchdowns versus three interceptions have not been ideal.

Petras’ 2024 sample size is small, but his passer rating of 130 is higher than he had in any of his three seasons as Iowa’s starter.

Joe Labas

2024 team: Central Michigan

2024 stats: 64-of-108 (59.3 percent), 803 yards, 6 TD, 6 INT

Joe Labas had a fantastic debut for Central Michigan, throwing for 342 yards while completing 75 percent of his passes. He had three touchdowns and no interceptions in the 66-10 win over Central Connecticut State.

The former Hawkeye then experienced some adversity in his second and third games, throwing five interceptions against Florida International and completing less than half of his passes against Illinois. His Week 4 performance against Ball State was better. He went 14-of-20 for 185 yards and one touchdown.

Labas’ passer rating of 128.9 ranks 83rd among 129 qualifying FBS quarterbacks.

Deacon Hill

2024 team: Utah Tech

2024 stats: 28-of-57 (49.1 percent), 315 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT

Deacon Hill — Iowa’s starter for the last nine games of the 2023 season — has not experienced much success yet at the FCS level. His 103.6 passer rating ranks 99th out of 112 qualifying FCS quarterbacks.

Hill started Utah Tech’s first three games. The Trailblazers then handed starting quarterback duties over to redshirt freshman Reggie Graff.

Utah Tech (0-4) will seek its first win of the 2024 season this weekend against Abilene Christian.

Carson May

2024 team: Abilene Christian

2024 stats: n/a

Carson May has been on the move a few times since transferring from Iowa after the 2022 season.

He first went to Coffeyville Community College in Kansas for 2023 spring practices before returning to the FBS level and landing at Wyoming that summer. He did not see any game action with the Cowboys in 2023 and transferred this spring to FCS-level Abilene Christian.

May, a redshirt sophomore this year, has not seen action in Abilene Christian’s first four games. The Wildcats are 2-2 after almost upsetting Texas Tech in Week 1.

Deuce Hogan

2024 team: New Mexico State

2024 stats: 6-of-18 (33.3 percent), 31 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT

Deuce Hogan, like May, has experienced a few changes of scenery since leaving Iowa City. Hogan first transferred to Kentucky as a walk-on and spent the 2022 and ’23 seasons there. His only passing attempts as a Wildcat were when he went 6-of-7 for 19 yards against his former school in the 2022 Music City Bowl.

Fast-forward to 2024, and Hogan is at New Mexico State. He appears to be third in the quarterback pecking order behind (Weeks 1-3 starter) Parker Award and (Week 4 starter) Santino Marucci.

The bulk of his opportunities came in New Mexico State’s Week 3 loss at Fresno State. Hogan went 4-of-13 with two interceptions in the 48-0 shutout.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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