Iowa QB Cade McNamara explains the offense's 2nd-half turnaround against Illinois State

did something flip at halftime did you guys make any adjustments what what changed I think we really started to gain some momentum at the end of that second quarter when we able to go on a decent drive we weren't able to you know finish with a touchdown but I think overall like when stuff wasn't going our way at the beginning we were kind of you know really our Tempo wasn't very good and I think once we were able to gain some momentum and gain some Tempo um that really set us up really good for the second half looks like you might have dinged your hand at one point did you h a helmet or something or no I started cramping there was a few of us that started cramping today but um the trainers had me drink a bunch of stuff and I was good do you remember the do you remember the past at worth you kind of scrambled out and threw 31 31 y play can you walk me through kind of what happened there you had basically no time to throw and you got well they they did a really good job especially in the first half of pressuring us I mean they brought a lot of field pressure and Edge pressure today and you know kudos to them they you know it was pretty tough to deal with in the first half but I think um really in particular that play um they brought some good pressure and I couldn't I can't remember I have to go back and look at the play whether I was hot or not if I should have got the ball out earlier honestly but um honestly it was just awesome to see you know once I was able to get out of the pocket and or was able to you know keep the play going I was kind of waiting on him for him to make a decision whether it was a block or if it was to take off and he took off and it I thought it was a great decision and all I had to do is just lay it up for him I guess I just wondered like last year when you're doing like the quad would you have gotten out of that or not no I wouldn't have you know um you know today felt really good to be actually healthy and run around a little bit I wasn't expecting to run as much as I did today but it felt good and you know some confidence was built with that and even there a couple times I'm like dang I could have maybe stayed on my feet a little bit longer and try to make a Juke but um but I I'll I'll play it safe for the first little bit but um yeah I mean I this time last year I mean I really didn't even I wasn't able to do a full week of practice you know dealing with my quad and um for me to be able to do a full week of practice and then come out of this game healthy and everything you know it's it's huge has your chemistry and practice with ree vanders been as good as it looked today or did you kind of surprise yourselves with how well you guys look together today um it was a little bit surprising you know I think he he's he really started gaining a lot of momentum towards the end of camp and I mean as you guys were able to see it his ability to go up and get it and make plays was you know something that he was gaining some traction through and um I'm just so stoked for him because you know as a true freshman you don't know how guys are going to react you know in game situations and you know even for like me or Luke you know like you know this is our first time being back there you know in a while too and there's nerves and there's anxiousness but um I'm just so proud of him the way that he was able to perform and something that's so impressive to me is just how he unfazed he is by everything did this feel like old times did this feel like old times for you and when you were rehabbing after your injury in midseason were there ever any times when you questioned if you be able to have moments like this again um I think moments like these and I'm really like picturing myself having moments like this is what got me through rehab I think you know having a rehab a second time was very difficult because I was you know wondering what I didn't do the first time you know and for me to um a lot of that motivation was being able to you know what it was like you know possibly to go out there as 100% again cuz I know last year I played and I wasn't 100% And I wasn't able to you know move around the pocket as much and for you know a lot of visualization and mindset and really just relying on my teammates and those relationships was huge for me during that process that touchdown pass to to Jacob you really led him on that I mean he looked like he was covered but the spot that you threw it to you know was was perfect I was what was your what did you see on that play how did it develop and ultimately put it that yeah well we ran a similar play earlier and we were able to we were kind of just looking at how the safeties were playing it and um really when we've practiced that play it hasn't played out like that usually um usually you know the Jacob is able to kind of stay skinny through the middle of the field but because we called it lower in the Red Zone um kind of force his angle to be a little uh thicker and for um usually I'm kind of throwing it in the first window but kind of the way they played it it was a little unique and I mean that's the kind of thing about a new offense is like sometimes the first time that you see something is going to be in a game and that for you know example that that was today with that