Iowa football QB Cade McNamara saw offense 'gain momentum' in 40-0 win against Illinois State

I think we really started gain some momentum at the end of that second quarter when we were 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 gained 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 did a helmet or something or no I started cramping there's 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 to or worth you kind of scrambled out and threw like a 31 31 yard play can you walk me through kind of what happened there you had basically no time to throw and got out of it well they they did a really good job especially in the first half of pressure and 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 to 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 with the quad for example I don't know if would you have gotten out of that or not no I wouldn't 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's a couple times I'm like dang I could have maybe stayed on my feet a little bit longer try to make a Juke but but I I'll I'll play it safe for First full 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 in 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 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 was 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 did this feel like old times for you and when you were rehabing 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 touchdown pass to to Jacob you know you really led him on that I mean he looked like he was covered but the spot that you get through it to you know was was perfect was what was your what did you see on that play how did it develop and and ultimately put it that SP 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 forc 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 new offense is like sometimes the first time that you see something is going to be in a game and for you know example that that was today with that that how long did it take for you Al together to heal from your last injury did nine months 10 months before you felt like you were 100% yeah I think it was I was cleared at either seven or eight months but I really started kind of feeling like myself through Camp because once I'm able to you know you can rehab and you can have as much strength as you possibly can but um when you're out for that long you have to gain like kind of your athleticism again you have to feel you know what comes second nature for you and for me I was able to gain some of those movements um in Camp because as a quarterback whether it's like kind of the smallest things whether it's like rotating out of Center or you know like maybe pivoting off a pitch like some of those little weird movements you don't realize that how much that you actually do that in a game until I'm actually thrown in there