Nate Stanley Leads Big Ten to Victory in State Farm All-Star Football Challenge

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ARLINGTON, Texas — University of Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley led the Big Ten Conference to the overall championship of the 2020 State Farm All-Star Football Challenge, held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas Monday. The competition featured 24 of college football’s brightest stars, divided into six teams based on their college conference. The 22nd annual event will air on Friday, Jan. 31, at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
 
Individual event winners included Stanley in the State Farm QB Accuracy Competition, Arizona State’s Eno Benjamin in the Mercedes-Benz Obstacle Course, Boise State’s Curtis Weaver in the Rocket Mortgage Strength Challenge and TCU’s Jalen Reagor in the Hands Competition. Team Big Ten won the State Farm team competition.
 
“I had a blast competing with and meeting the other guys,” said Stanley. “This was a fun event and I appreciate the opportunity to represent Iowa football and the Big Ten Conference.”
 
Each team consisted of four players from the same conference that competed for conference supremacy in a series of skills competitions. The conferences represented were the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big 12, the Pac-12, the SEC, and four of the best players outside of the Power Five called the “Wildcard” team.
 
Each player individually participated in a timed event, and then finished with a full team competition. Events were all timed, and had individual winners, that compiled into a cumulative score to determine the winning conference. For example, the quarterbacks from each team all competed against each other to win their competition. Then, their times were added to their teammates’ times to determine a final team score.
 
Stanley became the third Hawkeye since 2017 to compete in the event. Offensive lineman Sean Welsh and defensive back Josh Jackson competed in 2018, while quarterback C.J. Beathard competed in 2017
 
Stanley, a Menomonie, Wisconsin, native, started all 13 games in 2019 and all 39 games the past three
seasons. Iowa posted a 27-12 record in Stanley’s three seasons as starting quarterback.
 
Stanley passed for 2,951 yards with 16 touchdowns in 2019. He ranks second in career passing touchdowns (68), career passing yards (8,302), career completions (673), and career pass attempts (1,155), and third in career total offense (8,198).
 
The following are the individual and team results for the 2020 State Farm All-Star Football Challenge:

State Farm QB Accuracy Competition

1. Big Ten – Nate Stanley, Iowa (18.1 seconds)
2. SEC – Riley Neal, Vanderbilt (23.4)
3. Wildcard – Jordan Love, Utah State (25.8)
4. Big 12 – Carter Stanley, Kansas (27.0)
5. ACC – Bryce Perkins, Virginia (35.6)
6. Pac-12 – Anthony Gordon, Washington State (44.4)

Mercedes-Benz Obstacle Course

1. Pac-12 – Eno Benjamin, RB, Arizona State (24.0 seconds)
2. ACC – AJ Dillon, RB, Boston College (24.1)
3. Wildcard – Kyle Dugger, S, Lenoir-Rhyne (24.2)
4. Big Ten – Zack Baun, LB, Wisconsin (27.2)
5. SEC – Terrell Lewis, LB, Alabama (27.6)
6. Big 12 – Kenneth Murray, LB, Oklahoma (28.6)

Rocket Mortgage Strength Challenge

1. Wildcard – Curtis Weaver, DE, Boise State (25.8 seconds)
2. ACC – Jason Strowbridge, DL, North Carolina (26.2)
3. Pac-12 – Bradlee Anae, DE, Utah (26.4)
4. Big Ten – Yetur Gross-Matos, DE, Penn State (27.3)
5. SEC – Nick Coe, DE, Auburn (27.4)
6. Big 12 – Ross Blacklock, DT, TCU (29.4)

Hands Competition

1. Big 12 – Jalen Reagor, WR, TCU (15.9 seconds)
2. Pac-12 – Salvon Ahmed, RB, Washington (16.0)
3. SEC – Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama (16.4)
4. Big Ten – KJ Hamler, WR, Penn State (17.8)
5. Wildcard – Harrison Bryant, TE, Florida Atlantic (18.6)
6. ACC – Cam Akers, RB, Florida State (20.2)

State Farm Team Competition

1. Big Ten – 37.2 seconds
2. Pac-12 – 38.2
3. ACC – 39.6
4. SEC – 39.8
5. Big 12 – 42.7
6. Wildcard – 46.4

Final Team Standings

1. Big Ten – 127.6 seconds
2. SEC – 134.6
3. Wildcard – 140.8
4. Big 12 – 143.6
5. ACC – 145.7
6. Pac-12 – 149.0