Iowa football: What Nate Stanley needs to do to win over Hawkeye nation

Iowa football quarterback Nate Stanley is a polarizing player among fans. Here’s what he needs to do to win over every member of Hawkeye nation.

Being the starting quarterback of the Iowa football program is not an easy task. First, it’s just difficult being the starting quarterback of any division 1 football program. It’s basically a full-time job that brings with it thousands of people scrutinizing your every move.

I think for Iowa football quarterbacks, though, it can be even more difficult at times because, in an era where teams are lighting up the scoreboard and Joe Burrow is throwing 30 touchdowns, the Hawkeye’s offense brings us back about three decades into the football world. And if we’re being honest, it’s not going to change anytime soon with head coach Kirk Ferentz at the helm.

The Hawkeyes are designed to win games by controlling the ball, playing outstanding defense, and making fewer mistakes than the other team. A side effect of this is that the offense isn’t typically going to be a high-flying aerial attack that lends itself to big quarterback numbers.

It also means the Iowa football team is often in close games that require one or two drives that must be made to win the game.

And therein lies many members of the Iowa football community’s issues with the current quarterback play. Nate Stanley has a chance of breaking the Hawkeye’s all-time touchdown record set by the greatest quarterback Iowa has ever had, Chuck Long. He is currently leading the Big Ten in passing. He’s won two bowl games and his Hawks have been ranked at one point or another in all three seasons he’s been the starter including #19 this year.

Stanley has a ton of natural talent, and his makeup has scouts salivating over his potential, but he hasn’t won the big game or made the career-defining drive. You could argue the game against Mississippi State was a big-time game, and I wouldn’t disagree. However, the adversity in that game was relatively limited as the Hawks were never down more than 6 points and had the lead the last 17 minutes of the game.

Now, let’s look at another quarterback in Iowa football history who is revered as one of the greatest Hawkeye quarterbacks in the Kirk Ferentz era, Ricky Stanzi.

By the end of Stanley’s career, he will have surpassed Stanzi in yards and touchdowns and potentially wins (this one would undoubtedly be very difficult). Despite accuracy concerns, Stanley is within 1.5 percentage points of Stanzi’s career 59.8% mark, and he has thrown 10 fewer interceptions than Stanley.

And what most people seem to forget is during that memorable 2009 season, Stanzi threw 4 pick-6s. Stanley would be eaten alive today if he did that.

But it all goes back to the above. When the game mattered, Stanzi had this confidence about him that he was going to win the game, no matter what, and he did.

There was the 4th quarter comeback versus Indiana where the Hawks put 28 up on board despite needing just 10. There were also 4th quarter comebacks against Wisconsin and Penn State that year as well.

And the big one is the game-winning touchdown pass in the last second to Marvin McNutt against Michigan State.

That’s four games in just the 2009 season where Stanzi led the team down the field for a win.

Furthermore, Stanzi’s career record in games against ranked opponents is 6-3 whereas Stanley’s is 2-6 with 4 of those losses being decided by one possession.

We are still waiting for that moment from Nate Stanley, but fortunately for him, there is still time to create that long-lasting legacy. He’s got four games left in the regular season, three of which are trophy games, and two of which are against ranked opponents. If Iowa wins those four, the Hawks are likely in the Big Ten Championship Game against another ranked team, and they are likely playing in either the Rose Bowl or another New Years Six Bowl against another ranked team.

These six games could truly be career-defining for Nate Stanley’s Iowa football legacy.