College football: Former Marin Catholic standout Petras set for first start at Iowa
It’s been quite a rollercoaster ride for San Rafael’s Spencer Petras but the former Marin Catholic High standout will finally get to make his first start at quarterback for the University of Iowa football team when its season starts on Saturday.
Petras and the Hawkeyes travel to Purdue to face the Boilermakers at 12:30 p.m. PST. Iowa, which sits just outside the top 25 of the AP poll, is favored by three points.
“Spencer is a great kid,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said at a press conference on Tuesday. “He’s just done a really nice job. We obviously liked him when we recruited him, and everything he’s done since he’s been here. He’s grown, he’s developed, improved with each opportunity, and he’s practicing well right now.
“So we have every confidence he’ll play well this year. He’ll have some ups and downs. He is a first-year (starter). Everybody does. He’ll be anxious and nervous on Saturday just like all of us will. That’s competition. But I think he’ll do an outstanding job, and he’s worked hard. He acts like you’d want a quarterback to act. But it’s all genuine. It’s not for show or any of that kind of stuff. It’s just who he is, and we’re just thrilled he’s on our football team.”
Petras, a redshirt sophomore, has been the presumptive starter since the end of last season when senior Nate Stanley graduated and was later drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round.
Petras spent the early part of the year preparing to take over the position but that process was interrupted in early March as the coronavirus pandemic prompted a shutdown of college sports.
Petras was thrown another curveball on Aug. 11 when the Big Ten — just days after releasing a fall football schedule — voted unanimously to postpone the season until spring.
Public pressure to return to the field sooner than that was intense, especially with most of the other Power 5 conferences opting to play despite the pandemic. The conference eventually reversed course, announcing on Sept. 16 that it would play an eight-game conference schedule.
Petras is set to become the third Marin quarterback in the past decade to start for a Power 5 conference team.
Marin Catholic’s Jared Goff started immediately as a true freshman at Cal in 2013 before becoming the No. 1 pick of the Los Angeles Rams in the 2016 NFL draft.
San Marin’s Manny Wilkins started 36 games over the course of three seasons at Arizona State before signing with the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2019. Wilkins is currently a free agent.
When Petras takes the field on Saturday, he’ll have plenty of weapons to work with. Ihmir Smith-Marsette is considered one of the top wide receivers eligible for the 2021 NFL draft after catching 44 passes for 722 yards last season. Receiver Brandon Smith also has a chance to get drafted next year.
Iowa has also been a factory for NFL tight ends in recent years, a group headlined by current San Francisco 49er George Kittle. T.J. Hockensen and Noah Fant were both drafted in the first round in 2019, by the Detroit Lions and Denver Broncos, respectively.
Saturday will mark the first start for Petras since his days at Marin Catholic. Petras threw for 4,157 yards and 50 touchdowns against only two interceptions during his senior year in 2017, breaking many of Goff’s records in the process.
Petras put up a school-record 502 passing yards in a wild 59-56 victory against Cardinal Newman in the North Coast Section Division III championship game.