Spencer Petras (born November 18, 1999) is an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who most recently played for

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

Early life and high school career

Petras was born on November 18, 1999, in

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), ...

. He played high school football at

Marin Catholic High School Marin Catholic High School (familiarly known as MC) is a Roman Catholic college preparatory school located in unincorporated Kentfield in Marin County, California. The school is owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco. It was fou ...

Kentfield, California Kentfield (formerly Ross Landing, Tamalpais, and Kent) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Marin County, California, United States, just north of San Francisco. Kentfield is located southwest of downtown San Rafael, at an elevation of 115 fee ...

. 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%). 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. Petras was a four-star recruit coming out of high school. Petras originally committed to play college football at

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

, but later decommitted and then committed to

on December 15, 2017.

College career

In 2018, Petras was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

and saw action in two games that year as he backed up

Nate Stanley Nathan Stanley (born August 26, 1997) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football at Iowa and was drafted by the Vikings in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Early years Stanley attended Menomoni ...

. He played in his first career game in a 23–0 win over

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

as he had one incomplete pass attempt. He then again saw action in a 63–0 win over

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

although he did not record any stats. In 2019, Petras' redshirt freshman year he played in three games against

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

, and

Middle Tennessee State Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as well as a college of Postgr ...

. 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. In 2020, Petras was named Iowa's starting quarterback. 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 The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and would have played in the

Music City Bowl The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by TransPerfect and is officially known as the ''TransPerf ...

against

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

but the games were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Petras was 140–245 for 1,569 yards along with nine touchdowns and five interceptions on the year, along with two rushing touchdowns. He made his first career start in a 24–20 loss against

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, going 22 of 39 for 265 yards with no interceptions. 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. After starting 0–2, Petras and the Hawkeyes won six straight and finishing the year off beating No. 25

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

where he completed 14 of 25 attempts for 211 and two touchdowns in a 28–7 win. Iowa finished that year ranked No. 15. Petras was named as an honorable mention for the All-Big Ten All-Conference football team. In 2021, Petras was named to the

Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award is given annually in the United States to the nation's top upperclassmen quarterback in college football. Candidates are judged on accomplishments on the field as well as on their character, scholastic achievemen ...

Preseason Watch List. He led the Hawkeyes to a 10–4 (7–2 in Big Ten) record, including wins over No. 17

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, No. 9

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

, and No. 4

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

and Iowa was ranked as high as No. 2 in the country going into their game against Purdue. He was also named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after beating

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. After suffering an injury against Wisconsin,

Alex Padilla Alejandro Padilla ( ; born March 22, 1973) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from California since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Padilla served as the 30th secretary of state of California from 2015 ...

took over and led the team to three straight wins. Petras and Iowa went on to play No. 2 Michigan in the

2021 Big Ten Football Championship Game The 2021 Big Ten Football Championship Game was a college football game played on December 4, 2021, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the 11th edition of the Big Ten Football Championship Game and determined the champion of th ...

, he went 9 of 22 for 137 yards before having to leave the game because of an injury. Iowa faced No. 22

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

in the

Citrus Bowl The Citrus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Cheez-It Bowl and Florida Classic. The gam ...

, 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. In 2022, Petras and Iowa started off the year with a win over No. 2 ( FCS)

South Dakota State South Dakota State University is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually ...

where he went 11 for 25 for 109 yards and an interception to start the Hawkeyes off at 1–0. The team then lost to their

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

10–7. Then after winning two games in a row against

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

and Rutgers, Iowa then lost three straight games against No. 2 Michigan, Illinois, and No. 2

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

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. Petras' season ended after requiring surgery for his shoulder prior to the team's

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

against

Statistics

Coaching career

Following season-ending surgery after Petras' 2022 season he announced he would rejoin

with an off-the-field role with one year of eligibility remaining for the 2024 season.

Personal life

Petras is the son of Sarah and Adam Petras.

References

External links

Iowa profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petras, Spencer 1999 births Living people American football quarterbacks Iowa Hawkeyes football players Sportspeople from San Rafael, California Players of American football from Marin County, California Marin Catholic High School alumni