Aug. 12, 2007
Iowa’s football team goes into the 2007 season with a new quarterback, which is good news for Hawkeye fans.
Baloney, you say? Teams with experienced quarterbacks are ones that have an advantage, you think?
Not at Iowa. Not in recent years, anyway.
Conventional wisdom tells us that quarterback is the most important position on a football team and experience is a huge factor in the quarterback’s performance. No less authority than Hayden Fry pounded that home for 20 years and his record during that time proved him right. When Fry had a good veteran quarterback, he had good football teams.
But in the last five years under Coach Kirk Ferentz, we’ve seen the exact opposite. In a span of three seasons (2002-03-04) Ferentz had a new quarterback every year, yet the Hawkeyes won 31 games, two major bowl games, and shared two Big Ten championships.
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Conventional wisdom tells us that quarterback is the most important position on a football team and experience is a huge factor in the quarterback’s performance. No less authority than Hayden Fry pounded that home for 20 years and his record during that time proved him right. When Fry had a good veteran quarterback, he had good football teams.
But in the last five years under Coach Kirk Ferentz, we’ve seen the exact opposite. In a span of three seasons (2002-03-04) Ferentz had a new quarterback every year, yet the Hawkeyes won 31 games, two major bowl games, and shared two Big Ten championships. |
The first two quarterbacks, Brad Banks and Nate Chandler, were little-known seniors. Banks became an often sensational and electrifying quarterback who finished second in voting for the Heisman Trophy. Chandler was Iowa’s steady rudder in a season that included a decisive victory over Florida in the Outback Bowl.
Then came sophomore Drew Tate, a key to Iowa’s magical season of 2004. Directing an offense with virtually no running game, Tate’s inspiring performance was critical in a championship season that included a last-second unforgettable victory over LSU in the Capital One Bowl.
All three of those teams finished No. 8 in the final college football poll conducted by the Associated Press. With that kind of success, and with all-Big Ten Drew Tate coming back for two more seasons, big things were expected of the Hawkeyes in 2005 and 2006.
But it never happened. Iowa dropped to 7-5 in 2005, then stumbled to a 6-7 record in 2006, its first losing season in six years.
Statistically, there was little difference in Tate’s performance over the past three seasons. He didn’t suddenly lose his passing touch and mobility.
But in the last two years the Hawkeyes stopped winning the close games and they made uncharacteristic turnovers. They lost to teams they were favored to beat, they stopped winning in November and they failed to defend the home field. And their special teams were often anything but that.
A veteran quarterback could not overcome those deficiencies.
So Iowa goes into a new season with a new quarterback and a four-game losing streak. The last time the Hawkeyes won a game Jake Christensen — filling in for an injured Drew Tate – directed Iowa to a 24-14 victory over Northern Illinois. The game was played at Kinnick Stadium last Oct. 28.
Coincidentally, Northern Illinois is Iowa’s first opponent this season and Christensen is expected to be the Hawkeye quarterback. The teams meet at Soldier Field in Chicago Sept. 1. A capacity crowd is forecast for the game.
Northern Illinois is the home team, but odds are the majority of those in attendance will be wearing black and gold and pulling for the Hawkeyes. Perhaps those fans can spur Iowa to a much-needed victory. With three of the first four games on the road – the others are at Iowa State and at Wisconsin – this is not a game Iowa can afford to lose.
Christensen is a solidly built left-handed sophomore who performed well in a limited role last year. He is a rarity in that Iowa has had few lefty quarterbacks. The last was Phil Seuss 28 years ago.
Analysts are not sure what to expect from the Hawkeyes, whose last two teams finished 13-12. Eight position players must be replaced from a year ago. This Iowa team will have two new safeties, a new linebacker, a new tight end, and three new offensive linemen. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that the quarterback is also new, and as recent history tells us, that is not necessarily a bad thing. Even so, the Hawkeyes must do a better job on special teams, turnovers, protecting the home field and so forth. We can only expect so much from a new quarterback.
Editor’s Note: George Wine, the University of Iowa’s long-time sports information director who is now retired and living in Coralville, Iowa, is the author of George Wine Online. George has remained very close to the intercollegiate athletics program at the UI since his retirement and, in fact, has authored two books during that time. The first was a collaboration with the UI’s long-time head football coach, Hayden Fry, and named “A High Porch Picnic.” The second, “Black & Gold Memories, The Hawkeyes of the 20th Century,” included many of the essays George originally wrote for “The Voice of the Hawkeyes.” As he wrote in the book, “Collectively, they serve as a historical reference, and hopefully provide entertaining reading.” “Black & Gold Memories” is currently available at Barnes & Noble book stores across Iowa and on the world wide web.<>
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