Spencer Petras

Spencer Petras (born November 18, 1999) is an American football quarterback who plays college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Spencer Petras

Petras with Iowa
Iowa Hawkeyes – No. 7
Position	Quarterback
Class	Senior
Major	Interdepartmental studies
Personal information
Born:	(1999-11-18) November 18, 1999 (age 23) San Rafael, California, U.S.
Height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight	233 lb (106 kg)
Career history
College	Iowa (2018−present)
Bowl games	2019 Outback Bowl 2019 Holiday Bowl 2022 Citrus Bowl 2022 Music City Bowl
High school	Marin Catholic High School (Kentfield, California)
Stats at ESPN.com

Early life and high school career

Petras was born on November 18, 1999 in San Rafael, California. He played high school football at Marin Catholic High School in Kentfield, California. During his time at Marin Catholic, Petras was 35–5 as a starter and led the school to three straight playoff appearances. He was named team MVP as a senior along with being named Metro Player of the Year, he was also a first-team all-conference and team offensive MVP the previous year as a junior. Petras holds the school's record for passing yards in a game (502), passing yards in a season (4,157), passing touchdowns in a game (5), passing touchdowns in a season (50), and single-game completion percentage (100%).^[1] During his senior season he led Marin Catholic to an 8–0 record while throwing for 4,157 yards and 50 touchdowns, the team went on to lose in the state's regional finals.^[2][3] Petras was a four-star recruit coming out of high school.^[4] Petras originally committed to play college football at Oregon State, but later decommitted and then committed to Iowa on December 15, 2017.^[5][6]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Spencer Petras QB	Kentfield, California	Marin Catholic High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	Dec 15, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN:
Overall recruiting rankings:   247Sports: 421
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

College career

In 2018, Petras was redshirted and saw action in two games that year as he backed up Nate Stanley. He played in his first career game in a 23–0 win over Maryland as he had one incomplete pass attempt.^[7] He then again saw action in a 63–0 win over Illinois although he did not record any stats.^[8]

In 2019, Petras' redshirt freshman year he played in three games against Miami, Rutgers, and Middle Tennessee State. In those games he went six for ten passing along with 25 yards and one rush for one yard and a score. He scored his first collegiate touchdown against MTSU with a one yard run on the tail end of a 79 yard fourth quarter drive.^[9]

In 2020, Petras was named Iowa's starting quarterback.^[10] He started all eight games for the Hawkeyes leading them to a 6–2 record which was good enough for second in the West Division of the Big Ten and would have played in the Music City Bowl against Missouri but the games were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11] Petras was 140–245 for 1,569 yards along with nine touchdowns and five interceptions on the year, along with two rushing touchdowns.^[12] He made his first career start in a 24–20 loss against Purdue, going 22 of 39 for 265 yards with no interceptions.^[13] He threw his first career touchdown pass against Northwestern in a 21–20 loss where he went 26 of 50 for 216, one touchdown and three interceptions.^[14] After starting 0–2, Petras and the Hawkeyes won six straight and finishing the year off beating No. 25 Wisconsin where he completed 14 of 25 attempts for 211 and two touchdowns in a 28–7 win. Iowa finished that year ranked No. 15.^[15] Petras was named as an honorable mention for the All-Big Ten All-Conference football team.^[16]

In 2021, Petras was named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Preseason Watch List.^[17] He led the Hawkeyes to a 10–4 (7–2 in Big Ten) record, including wins over No. 17 Indiana, No. 9 Iowa State, and No. 4 Penn State and Iowa was ranked as high as No. 2 in the country going into their game against Purdue.^[18] He was also named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after beating Maryland 51–14. In that game Iowa gained 428 yards of total offense while Petras went 21 of 30 for 259 yards and three touchdowns, he also ran for another two scores on the ground. His three touchdown passes match a career high and the two rushing touchdowns are a career best.^[19] After suffering an injury against Wisconsin, Alex Padilla took over and led the team to three straight wins.^[20] Petras and Iowa went on to play No. 2 Michigan in the 2021 Big Ten Football Championship Game, he went 9 of 22 for 137 yards before having to leave the game because of an injury.^[21] Iowa faced No. 22 Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl, Petras went 19 of 30 for 211 yards and one touchdown along with three interceptions in a 20–17 loss to end the Hawkeyes season.^[22]

In 2022, Petras and Iowa started off the year with a win over No. 2 (FCS) South Dakota State where he went 11 for 25 for 109 yards and an interception to start the Hawkeyes off at 1–0.^[23] The team then lost to their rivals 10–7. Then after winning two games in a row against Nevada and Rutgers, Iowa then lost three straight games against No. 2 Michigan, Illinois, and No. 2 Ohio State where Petras had gone 45 of 81 for 465 yards for one touchdown and three interceptions in that three game stretch, while also getting benched late in their 54–10 loss to Ohio State.^[24] Petras' season ended after requiring surgery for his shoulder prior to the team's bowl game against Kentucky.^[25][26]

Petras is expected to return to Iowa as he rehabs from his shoulder surgery. He will be the backup to incoming transfer Cade McNamara from Michigan.^[27]

Statistics

Season	Games			Passing								Rushing
	GP	Record	Comp	Att	Pct	Yards	Avg	TD	Int	Rate	Att	Yards	Avg	TD
Iowa Hawkeyes
2018	2	0–0	0	1	0.0	0	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0.0	0
2019	3	0−0	6	10	60.0	25	2.5	0	0	81.0	1	1	1	1
2020	8	6−2	140	245	57.1	1,569	6.4	9	5	119.0	32	-4	-0.1	2
2021	10	6−4	165	288	57.3	1,880	6.5	10	9	117.3	48	-109	-2.3	5
2022	7	3−4	93	175	53.1	989	5.7	2	5	98.7	33	-101	-3.1	0
2023	−	−	−	−	−	−	−	−	−	−	−	−	−	−
Career^[28]	30	15−10	404	719	56.2	4,463	5.7	21	19	112.7	114	-213	-1.9	8

Personal life

Petras is the son of Sarah and Adam Petras.^[29]

References

1. Hlas, Mike. "Spencer Petras: Iowa mentality from San Francisco Bay Area". thegazette.com. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
2. "Spencer Petras' Football Stats". maxpreps.com. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
3. "Marin Catholic Football (2017) Schedule". maxpreps.com. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
4. "Spencer Petras, 2018 Pro-style quarterback - Rivals.com". n.rivals.com. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
5. brennan.meinke (2017-05-29). "3-Star QB, Spencer Petras, Commits to Oregon State". Building The Dam. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
6. "Spencer Petras: Marin Catholic star commits to Iowa after flipping on Oregon State". Marin Independent Journal. 2017-12-15. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
7. "Maryland Terrapins vs Iowa Hawkeyes - Boxscore: Oct 20, 2018". foxsports.com. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
8. "Iowa (7-4, 4-4) -vs- Illinois (4-7,2-6)". fightingillini.com. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
9. Leistikow, Chad. "Leistikow's 5 thoughts after Iowa's 48-3 demolition of Middle Tennessee State". hawkcentral.com. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
10. Rucker, Elgin (2020-01-21). "Spencer Petras named Iowa's starting quarterback for 2020 season". KCCI. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
11. Rittenberg, Adam. "Music City Bowl canceled after Missouri Tigers pull out of game due to rise in coronavirus cases". espn.com. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
12. "2020 Iowa Hawkeyes Spencer Petras #7 Sophomore QB 6-5 231 San Rafael, CA through 01/11/2021". cfbstats.com. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
13. Johnson, Jeff. "Iowa QB Spencer Petras has mixed results in first career start". thegazette.com. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
14. Bock, Sean. "Everything Iowa QB Spencer Petras said after Northwestern loss". 247sports.com. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
15. Leistikow, Chad. "Iowa football: Where the 6-2 Hawkeyes finished in final poll of 2020 season". hawkcentral.com. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
16. Condry, Paul. "2020 Big Ten Football All-Conference "OFFENSE" named". rrsn.com. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
17. Smith, A.O. "The 2021 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Announces 2021 Preseason Watch List". goldenarmfoundation.com. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
18. Brown, Chelsie. "Iowa up to No. 2 in AP rankings". kcrg.com. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
19. Hanich, Michael. "Iowa QB Spencer Petras earns Rose Bowl award for big game vs. Maryland". saturdaytradition.com. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
20. Harty, Pat. "Spencer Petras explains why he never felt he lost his starting position". hawkfanatic.com. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
21. Peterson, Chloe. "Iowa's Petras, Padilla both struggle at quarterback in Big Ten championship loss to Michigan". dailyiowan.com. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
22. Withrow, Lauren. "Vrbo Citrus Bowl Game Recap: Live Highlights From Iowa vs. Kentucky". si.com. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
23. "Football Boxscore South Dakota St. at Iowa". hawkeyesports.com. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
24. Howe, Matt. "Iowa benches QB Spencer Petras in third quarter against No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes". 247sports.com. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
25. Dochterman, The Athletic Staff and Scott. "Iowa's Spencer Petras to miss Music City bowl". The Athletic. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
26. "Surgery will keep Iowa QB Petras from bowl game". ESPN.com. 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
27. "Hawkeyes QB Spencer Petras to return to Iowa football roster with an eye on coaching". Hawk Central. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
28. "Spencer Petras". espn.com. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
29. "#7 Spencer Petras". hawkeyesports.com. Retrieved 26 October 2022.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Spencer Petras.

• Iowa profile