Iowa football: Nate Stanley aiming for history in 2019
By Ryan Sikes
Nate Stanley has come up short of the Iowa football single-season touchdown record in back to back seasons. Will he break it in 2019?
Looking back at the 2017 Iowa football season, Nate Stanley was on pace to break Chuck Long‘s single-season touchdown record (27) after a five-touchdown performance in arguably the Hawkeyes most surprising regular season win at Kinnick Stadium. It wasn’t just the fact the Iowa upset #5 Ohio State, but they flat out dominated them.
Stanley could do no wrong that day, highlighted by a touchdown pass to T.J. Hockenson in the back of the endzone with Ohio State defensive end Sam Hubbard draped around Stanley’s legs. However, he followed that magical day with a dud performance the following week with just 41 passing yards and an interception at Wisconsin.
He would go onto finish with four touchdowns in the final three games (including the Pinstripe Bowl) and finished with 26 touchdowns.
Last season, Stanley started off slow but really got going with 12 touchdowns in three games against Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Indiana. He disappeared from the box score for a few games, tallying just 3 touchdowns in the next 4 games. The rollercoaster ride continued back up in the final 3 games (including the Outback Bowl) with 11 touchdowns and Stanley finished with 26 touchdowns again.
This season, consistency will be the biggest factor working against Stanley has he has yet to prove he can remain a constant passing threat week-to-week. There’s no doubt about his arm strength. NFL scouts drool over that kind of skillset.
In order for Stanley to break the Iowa single-season record, he’ll need to average 2.2 touchdowns per game (including the bowl game). He’s going to have those big performances that we have seen thus far from him, but the Hawkeyes cannot afford for him to disappear for several games. He is already going to be without his 2018 go-to targets in Noah Fant and T.J. Hockenson, so he’ll need to develop chemistry with Shaun Beyer and the new tight ends.
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If he can remain steady each week, Stanley has a great opportunity to achieve 28 touchdowns this year. If not, the Hawks might be looking at another third-year quarterback regression under Kirk Ferentz and, likely, a mediocre season.