Quarterback Cade McNamara took some time out of game prep for Iowa to sit down for a conversation with reporters Monday afternoon. McNamara may not have had his biggest statistical game of the season against Ohio State but he was very effective, completing 13 of 19 passes for an average of 8.4 yards per attempt. Per Pro Football Focus he excelled on passes over 20 yards, completing two of three deep throws for an average of 23.7 yards per attempt. Today's questions, however, focused on his offensive line's performance against Ohio State, the offense's physicality, Iowa's defense, and the team's mindset going forward. For a full transcript of what McNamara said, read on:

On what stands out about Iowa’s defense, which leads the nation in interceptions

Yeah, I think Iowa has a good defense. They’ve had success getting interceptions this season. Good thing that the offense that we have here at Michigan, we pride ourselves on not turning the ball over so I think this will for sure be a good challenge for us. As you mentioned, Iowa is a good defense and we’re looking forward to the challenge.

On what it’s like having a talented understudy in J.J. and how they feed off each other

J.J.’s a talented player and I think he’s done a good job of making sure that he’s prepared for the plays that are set for him in the gameplan. Every week we’re aware of the gameplan and I think coach Gattis does a great job of making sure every player on the offense is prepared with the gameplan and is confident in it. I think no matter what guy you choose out of the offense that every single dude is confident and they’re going to take their job super seriously come gameday.

On the dynamic of both teams being battle-tested

For sure, I think that was something we were super confident in going into last week that we've been tested this season. We've gone through basically really all kinds of different game situations and that's something we've prided ourselves on since camp is being a very sound and good situational football team. I think all that work and all the preparation that the coaches have done to get us here is to make sure that we're ready come Saturday.

On what Mike Sainristil brings to the offense

Yeah, absolutely, I appreciate Mikey and I know the rest of us do. He’s a great dude. Other than just being an awesome football player he's a really positive energy in the locker room and I think that what he brings to us as an offense is he’s a receiver who’s willing to block. He takes pride in blocking, blocking on the edge, whether that’s a bubble screen or even getting down into the box, really, on short yardage, and I think he does that extremely well. He takes extreme pride in that.

And I think also he does a great job when it comes to man-to-man coverage. He’s a guy that you don’t have to worry about getting off the line. His releases are just about as good as anyone, especially on our team for that matter. And I think he's a great player and as his role continues to grow, couldn't have more confidence in a dude than Mikey Sainristil.

On whether he’s been a part of an offensive line performance like Saturday

Other than the Washington game, I don’t think I've ever seen or been a part of an offense with such a dominant offensive line performance. I think that's just a testament to the amount of work and the mentality shift of that room and that coach Moore has preached to the rest of those dudes. Just simply the execution level. We were--these guys are confident in what they can do and we're confident as a group that we can follow their lead and that they can drive this offense.

On having Aidan Hutchinson back this season on the field and as a leader

Aidan is a tremendously influential person on this team. Despite--not just having the most impact on the field that I think a defensive player can have, I think the role that he has on this team is just so important not just for being a leader but helping the other leaders on the team like me and Josh (Ross), hearing Aidan’s opinion as well is just super important. He’s contributed so much to the change in the mentality of this team. We truly appreciate him, especially not just his play but his leadership as well.

On when they realized this offense could play the way they do with the offensive line and running game

I think since the beginning of the year we’ve obviously put an emphasis on the type of running game and team that we want to be, the level of physicality, the gap scheme, even just the simple zones, coming off the ball. We have plays in our offense that are called mentality plays. It’s not as much just about the scheme as it is just the level of intensity that we're going to come off the ball with. I think really the game that we really realized the potential of this group was, I think, Washington. The way we were able to manhandle those dudes was at a level that I for sure have never seen at this level.

On where Saturday’s win ranks for him and how you move forward from it

I think beating Ohio State is definitely one of if not the pinnacle of my career. Just being part of this team is an honor. For us to finally get over the hump, I guess you could say, of beating Ohio State means so much not just to me but to the rest of these guys. I think as we continue going into this week of preparation, we're going to watch the film today and then as soon as today's over, that game is over as well.

We’ll come back and we’ll appreciate that game after the season but for the time now, we've got to beat the Hawkeyes and we have to take home a Big Ten championship because there’s not one dude on this team that has a ring. Definitely not a Big Ten championship ring, so this--that was one of our goals that we wanted to achieve this season. Now we just have to go on and achieve the next one.

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