Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz laughed when asked about the pressure for a quarterback making his first collegiate start in front of a hometown crowd.
With starter Spencer Petras injured and questionable to play Saturday against the Gophers, sophomore Alex Padilla will likely make his starting debut at Kinnick Stadium. But Ferentz is pretty matter-of-fact about the issue.
"It's like, what choice do we have here? What choice does Alex have?" Ferentz told reporters this week. "He's got to be ready to go."
That statement isn't quite as resigned as it sounds. Losing two-year starter Petras to a shoulder injury three possessions into last week's game at Northwestern surely wasn't ideal. But the way Padilla stepped in did a lot to assuage any anxiety. He completed 18 of 28 passes for 172 yards, steering the Hawkeyes to a tight 17-12 victory in a rebound from two-consecutive Big Ten losses.
That even-keel temperament seems to be a hallmark of strong quarterbacks, and Ferentz saw that in Padilla.
"He just kept a real clear head and kept a real good demeanor about him," he said, "and really executed things pretty well for us."
Now Padilla will have to prove he can maintain that composure in a border battle with a rivalry trophy on the line. Plus the No. 20 Hawkeyes will have another chance at separating themselves in the Big Ten West.
The Gophers and Iowa are in a four-way tie right now with Wisconsin and Purdue, all at 4-2 in the conference. The Hawkeyes — 7-2 overall with victories against No. 17 Indiana, No. 9 Iowa State and No. 4 Penn State — were actually undefeated until their two-game slide against the Boilermakers (24-7) and the Badgers (27-7) to end October.