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Iowa Football: Top 10 Quarterbacks of All Time

By Dylan Burn

Oct 17, 2015; Evanston, IL, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz leads his team to the field before the game against the Northwestern Wildcat at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 17, 2015; Evanston, IL, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz leads his team to the field before the game against the Northwestern Wildcat at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 1, 2016; Pasadena, CA, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback C.J. Beathard (16) passes against the Stanford Cardinal during the second quarter in the 2016 Rose Bowl at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2016; Pasadena, CA, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback C.J. Beathard (16) passes against the Stanford Cardinal during the second quarter in the 2016 Rose Bowl at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 7 – C.J. Beathard

C.J. has done so much in just one year as a starter.  He led the Hawkeyes to their first ever perfect regular season.  He led them to the Big Ten Championship, a game that they nearly won.  But most importantly, he led them to their first Rose Bowl appearance in the last 25 years.

Was the Rose Bowl the prettiest thing we’ve ever seen? No, not even close, but what mattered to the Hawkeye faithful was, the Hawkeyes were back.  They were routinely bashed for having an easy schedule, but it didn’t phase them.  They simply ran into a Stanford team that many argued should’ve been in the College Football Playoff.  Their running back, Christian McCaffery, is the most dynamic player in the country and was absolutely robbed of the Heisman trophy.

He appeared in 8 games in the 2014 season as the coaches couldn’t seem to decide between him and Jake Rudock.  He threw for 645 yards during the year along with 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.  The coaching staff decided a little over a year ago to make C.J. the starter, which led to Rudock transferring.

The move paid huge dividends.  Beathard is a natural leader and doesn’t seem to get rattled easily.  During the Big Ten Championship game, Iowa’s offense was stagnant, brutal if you will.  Well, Iowa opened the fourth quarter by launching a pass deep down field for Tevaun Smith.  Smith caught it and scampered into the end zone to give Iowa the lead.  It took a 20+ play drive that consumed over half of the fourth quarter for the Spartans to knock off the Hawkeyes.

His numbers aren’t going to pop out at you, but leading a team as a first year starter to a perfect 12-0 conference record, speaks for itself, which is why C.J. finds himself at number 7.  He finished second in the Big Ten last season in pass completion percentage, completing over 61% of his passes.  Beathard also finished second in passing yards per attempt with 7.8.  The most impressive stat is the fact that he only threw 5 interceptions all year long.

Of course, C.J. has every opportunity to move up this list seeing as he has one more season in a Hawkeye uniform, but that will get decided when September rolls around.

Next: Number 6

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