You realize that you're essentially trying to sell a popularity contest as an objective measure of ability, right? At least you could choose guys who were consensus picks, eh?
Nate Stanley will shatter once thought untouchable Chuck Long School Record
- Thread starter Franisdaman
- Start date
Yes. He was still the best in the conference, and rules were a LOT different then greatly favoring the defenses.
The Big 10 coaches voted 3 QB's All-Conf last year and 3 HM. Stanley wasn't on the list. The maybe 7th best QB in the Big 10 as a junior is not comparable to a two time 1st team all conference QB at that point in their careers. We can agree to disagree.
It's weird isn't it. Iowa fans hating Nate Stanley is very different than past QB's. This isn't just another Jake Rudock or Jake Christiansen ordeal. It's different.
Nate is clearly the best QB on the team and no one seriously disputes that. He will most likely break Chuck Longs career passing TD record (he's on pace to break it by a good margin) and is on pace to break Long's single season record. He will probably end up 2nd all time in career passing yardage.
He will essentially be on of the greatest Iowa QB's of all time and a good portion of the Iowa fanbase will hate Stanley for it. These fans are quick to point out a bad pass by Stanley and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER give him any credit for a great pass. Stanley has far more great passes than he does terrible passes.
It's strangely similar to Roger Maris hitting 61 homeruns and breaking Babe Ruth's record. Roger Maris won the American League MVP the year before hitting 61 homeruns so he wasn't some scrub. He was hated by a lot of his own Yankees fans when it was realized that he could break Babe Ruth's record and as he got closer to it.
It's almost as if some Iowa fans will hate Stanley for breaking Long's TD record.
Just a question, did Mr. Long actually accomplish most of those feats on his own or did he have a very good possibly great team around him in 85? Three players drafted in the first round in 85, yes? Best all purpose RB in college football. Top middle linebacker in college football running a great defense. Held #2 Michigan to 10 points. WR's who caught those 22 straight passes. Just saying, none of this happened in a vacuum, where he as solely responsible. Its a team game, and those awards never go to players on poor teams. Finally, we still don't know what the final chapter will be for Stanley, so whats the need for the debate now?
Very interesting analogy to Maris. It is pretty weird that the better he plays the haters just seem to come out of the woodwork. I truly hope he has a great year, and we can all revisit this debate in January. I have a feeling Nate will only be appreciated when he's gone, so sure hope that Petras, Mansell, Padilla, or Hogan have the goods.....
Why is it not? Iowa is not a fast paced, no huddle spread offense. We still play an 80s style offense. I will agree that the game had evolved, but is the Iowa offense that much different than we played then?
Older, more knowledgeable fans can correct me here if I’m wrong/off base (always appreciate the opportunity to learn and improve my understanding of the game)... but my understanding is that, while Iowa’s offense still resembles traditional offenses more so than many other teams’, they’ve still taken on a lot of the elements of the modern (more west coast) style of play. Based on highlights of football I’ve watched, and the small amount of research I’ve done, Chuck Long would have played in a system which utilized primarily an intermediate to deep passing game opened up through an effective run game.
Conversely Stanley plays in a system which frequently utilizes a high percentage short to intermediate passing game, which opens up both runs and deep passes (think the five yard outs, bubble screens, passes to running backs). You are probably right that it isn’t as “apples and oranges” as I made it out to be, but I still think it’s a different game/different offensive theories, and I’d still make the same contention regarding the limitations defenses face now compared to the 80s.
For example, Long averaged 10 yards per attempt his JR year and 8.7 on his career, whereas Stanley averaged 7.1 yards per attempt on his career. It just seems like passing isn’t utilized in the same way now as it was then
