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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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Sep 19, 2015; Iowa City, IA, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz reacts after watching former Hawkeye Brett Greenwood who suffered a heart arrhythmia while working out and sustained an anoxic brain injury lead the team out on the field against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 19, 2015; Iowa City, IA, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz reacts after watching former Hawkeye Brett Greenwood who suffered a heart arrhythmia while working out and sustained an anoxic brain injury lead the team out on the field against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 4 – Drew Tate

Good ole Drew Tate.  If you were a Hawkeye fan, you either loved Drew Tate or you hated him.  There was no in between in my eyes.  Tate garners the fourth spot because in the three years he started for Iowa, he did most of the damage on offense.  In ’04 when Iowa beat LSU in the Capital One Bowl, Iowa’s leading rusher that year was Sam Brownlee who totaled 227 yards all year long.

He did have help in ’05 and ’06 with Albert Young and Damian Sims, but it was remarkable how he crafted the offense in 2004.  Set aside the poor running game and you have two big time receivers in Ed Hinkel and Clinton Solomon, a good tight end in Scott Chandler, and an extremely talented defense, who allowed just over 17 points per game.

Tate is most remembered for the bomb he tossed to Warren Holloway, who had one touchdown catch in his entire career, in the ’05 Capital One Bowl.  Tate took the snap with around 9 seconds left and over half the field to go.  He looked down field and saw a streaking Holloway, chucked it up to him, and Holloway caught it and went into the end zone to give Iowa a 30-25 win.

I remember being so mad that Iowa had blown the lead to LSU and future number one overall draft pick and bust, Jamarcus Russell, that I left the party I was at, went downstairs, and turned it off.  Eventually I mustered the courage to turn it back on just in time to see the play.  I couldn’t believe it.  To this day, that is the greatest play I’ve seen in Iowa Football history.

Tate finished up his Iowa career with a 23-14 record over the course of three years.  After the Capital One Bowl victory, Tate lost the next two bowl games to Florida and Texas.  He completed 61% of his passes as a Hawkeye for 8,292 yards.  He tossed 61 touchdown passes and 34 interceptions.  Those 61 touchdown passes are good for 12th in the Big Ten in terms of career numbers.

He ranked 4th in the Big Ten in pass completions all three years he was a starter which led to a career ranking of 16th in the same category.  He’ll always be remembered for that 10-2 record in ’04 and the pass in the bowl game that year, but Tate struggled winning games in his final two seasons.  He finished up 13-12 in his final two seasons as the Hawkeye quarterback.

Next: Number 3

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