The Monday Kickoff: One More Chance For A Win For Stanley
Nate Stanley has one more game in his Iowa career.
He will leave Iowa after three seasons as starting quarterback among the all-time best in the program, but yeah, good luck getting him to talk about that.
It’s the way it was on Sunday, after Iowa’s Holiday Bowl announcement.
Stanley has a chance to be one of just two quarterbacks in school history to have three bowl wins — Ricky Stanzi is the other — but that number isn’t important.
Instead, Stanley wanted to talk about 10 wins — the 9-3 Hawkeyes can get to that total with a victory over USC on Dec. 27 in San Diego.
“I haven’t really thought about (winning three bowl games),” Stanley said. “Just thinking about it as getting our team a 10th win. That was our goal when we knew the Big Ten championship was out of the picture. We’ve still got that to go, and we’re doing everything we can to accomplish that goal.”
There are reasons why that victory total is so important to Stanley.
“One, I think it’s important for us because it’s a goal we set for ourselves,” Stanley said. “That’s a milestone we want to accomplish. Ten wins hasn’t happened very much in this program. We’ll leave a mark on the history books for this team, and the seniors for what they’ve accomplished.”
Stanley has won a bowl game in a Major League Baseball stadium (Yankee Stadium, Pinstripe Bowl) and an NFL stadium (Raymond James Stadium, Outback Bowl). He’s defeated an ACC team (Boston College) and an SEC team (Mississippi State). He owns Iowa’s bowl record for longest pass and longest touchdown pass (a 75-yarder to Nick Easley in last season’s Outback Bowl.
It’s just part of an impressive resumé for Stanley, who heads into the bowl game ranked third all-time at Iowa in passing yards (8,089), second in passing touchdowns (66) and third in completions (655).
The postseason has been just another stage for Stanley.
As a sophomore, Stanley threw for just 99 yards, but had a touchdown pass to tight end Noah Fant, in the 27-20 Pinstripe Bowl win over Boston College.
“It felt just like another game,” Stanley said. “The preparation is a little different, but the quality of work we put in, and everything we did, was similar.”
He threw for 214 yards and three touchdowns in the Jan. 1 Outback Bowl.
USC will present its own challenge. But it’s the last one for Stanley’s college career.
That’s why he wants the win. Not for selfish reasons, but for the team. Only five teams in Kirk Ferentz's previous 20 seasons reached double digits in victories. Adding to that list is what Stanley wants.
The career numbers will define Stanley. A third bowl victory would be the perfect top to an impressive three-year resumé.
