April 19, 2007
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- Iowa Football Wallpaper
Hayden Fry had a real affinity for experienced quarterbacks.
“When you go into a season with a proven, veteran quarterback,” he liked to say, “you got a leg up on your opponents.” I wouldn’t disagree with the winningest coach in Iowa history, yet consider the Hawkeyes over the past five seasons.
In 2002 Iowa had a new quarterback. Senior Brad Banks had little name recognition beyond our state borders, but when the season ended he had a boatload of honors, including the Associated Press Player of the Year award. Without Banks’ sterling performance, Iowa would never have won a school-record 11 games and a Big Ten championship.
In 2003 untested Nate Chandler took charge at quarterback. With another little-known senior leading the offense, Iowa won 10 games and decisively beat Florida in the Outback Bowl.
In 2005 a sophomore was Iowa’s starting quarterback. But an inexperienced Drew Tate did not prevent the Hawkeyes from winning another Big Ten championship. Tate earned all-Big Ten honors and his last-second pass at the Capitol One Bowl gave Iowa an unforgettable victory over LSU.
Despite having a different quarterback each season, Iowa won a school-record 31 games over a three-year period. The Hawkeyes ranked in the nation’s Top Ten every year and played in three Florida January bowl games, winning two of them.
With Tate coming back for another two seasons, the future looked exceptionally bright for the Hawkeyes, but the combined record in 2005 and 2006 slid to 13-12. And Iowa football, which had a well-deserved reputation for playing its best in November and protecting the home field, lost six games after Nov. 1, and three games at Kinnick Stadium last year.
The Hawkeyes will enter the 2007 season with a new quarterback. Given the developments in recent seasons, that may be a good thing. I’m looking for a little optimism here.
Not to blame Drew Tate for the decline in Iowa’s record. Statistically he performed as well the past two seasons as he did as a sophomore. But the Hawkeyes with a veteran quarterback in 2005 and 2006 did not enjoy the same success they had during that wonderful three-year span of 2002-04.
So what caused the descent in Iowa football fortunes the past two years? Coach Kirk Ferentz and his staff have spent considerable time pondering the problems, some of which are fairly obvious.
After a sterling goal-line stand saved the game at Syracuse, the defense was often soft and vulnerable.
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Despite having a different quarterback each season, Iowa won a school-record 31 games over a three-year period. The Hawkeyes ranked in the nation’s Top Ten every year and played in three Florida January bowl games, winning two of them.
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Special teams, once a huge asset, were sometimes a liability.
Critical offensive plays backfired. Intercepted passes at the goal line were pivotal in losses to Northwestern, Minnesota and Texas.
Instead of winning the close games, the Hawkeyes lost most of them. During the 2002-04 seasons, they won nine games by seven points or less. The last two seasons they were 1-6 in those games.
The Hawkeyes were inconsistent from week to week, often playing to the level of their opponents. They played their best against Michigan and Texas, their worst against Indiana and Northwestern, and lost all four games.
Little-known, lightly recruited players failed to surface and make an impact. There were no surprises like Brad Banks, Dallas Clark, Robert Gallery, Bob Sanders, Jonathan Babineaux and Sean Considine.
The problems are not difficult to identify. The solutions will be harder to find. Coach Ferentz shredded his two-deep when the season ended and announced all positions are up for grabs. When spring practice ended his depth chart was still a work in progress. The two-deep was written in pencil, not ink. Ferentz is hoping for spirited competition at all positions when two-a-days begin in August.
What we now know is that Iowa returns eight starters on defense and six on offense. Whether they will all retain their positions is unclear. But it is a certainty that a new quarterback will be under center. Let’s hope the Hawkeyes enjoy the same success they had with first-time starters Banks, Chandler and Tate.
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