Where Does Ricky Stanzi Rank Among Iowa's All-Time Quarterbacks?

Over the weekend, Phil Steele's 2010 College Football Preview arrived in my mailbox.

Steele's magazine is a ridiculously thick publication full of statistics on almost every major team in college football. College football writers/addicts go into a frantic fury of page flipping for hours after it arrives with their mail.

Steele didn’t go light on the Big Ten stats this year and his information on Iowa was encouraging.

As Steele points out, Iowa's starting quarterback Ricky Stanzi has an outstanding 67 percent passing completion in the fourth quarter of play. That equates to a pass efficiency rating of 200.2 in arguably the most important quarter of football.

His fourth-quarter statistics are a huge reason for his 18-4 record as a starter.

If you happen to have a huge magnifying glass, Steele also drops in a Stanzi long-shot Heisman mention on the very back page of the preview. It might take superpowers to see the mention, but a mention is a mention.

With football withdrawal on the verge of kicking in, I used Steele's Stanzi statistics (say that five times fast) as inspiration for a post to see where Stanzi subjectively ranks among Iowa's All-Time quarterbacks.

9. Matt Sherman

Matt Sherman ranks in the top five in passing and total offense and second to Chuck Long in touchdown passes.

Sherman was a three-year starter for Iowa and is among the all-time leaders in career wins as a Hawkeye.

8. Matt Rodgers

Matt Rodgers is fourth in career passing at Iowa with 6,725 yards, which has him behind Chuck Long, Drew Tate, and Chuck Hartlieb.

According to Hawkeye Sports, he was the second sophomore in Iowa history to pass for more than 2,000 yards in a season.

Rodgers was first team All-Big Ten in 1990 and 1991.

7. Ricky Stanzi

Stanzi finished the 2009 season with 2,417 yards and 17 touchdowns (despite missing two games) to go along with an Orange Bowl Championship.

He has an 18-4 record as starting quarterback over last two seasons. Stanzi's 4,373 career passing yards has him sixth all-time at Iowa heading into his senior season.

Stanzi should pass Sherman and Tate in 2010 to move into second in Iowa history for total games won, behind Long.

6. Ken Ploen

Ken Ploen became the starting quarterback for the Hawkeyes in 1956. Ploen led Iowa to its first Big Ten Conference title in 35 years.

Ploen was named Big Ten Player of the Year and was named to the All-America Team in 1956.

He was also voted the Rose Bowl's Most Valuable Player in Iowa's 1957 Rose Bowl victory.

After college, Ploen made quite a name for himself in the CFL.

5. Chuck Hartlieb

Chuck Hartlieb holds the record for completions in a game (44), completions in a season (288), yards in a game (558) and yards in a season (3,738), among a few others.

One of his more impressive records is for most touchdown passes in a game (7).

Hartlieb was selected first Team All-Big Ten in 1987 and 1988.

4. Brad Banks

Brad Banks didn't have a long career at Iowa, but when he was given a chance, he made the most of it. He helped lead Iowa to an 11-2 record and a tie for the Big Ten title in 2002.

Banks was the 2002 Davey O'Brien Award winner and Heisman Trophy runner-up. He was also the 2002 Big Ten Player of the Year.

3. Drew Tate

On Jan. 1, 2005, in front of a large Capital One Bowl crowd, Drew Tate became an Iowa Hawkeye legend.

Winning the Big Ten Title with a victory over the Wisconsin Badgers secured Tate a spot in the Iowa history books, but ESPN declaring his Capital One Bowl Hail Mary as the 30th best play of all time in college football made him a legend.

"The Catch" helped him win 2005 Capital One Bowl MVP.

Tate was the 2004 Big Ten Player of the Year. He recorded over 8,240 passing yards and ranks third in career wins among Iowa's all-time quarterbacks.

Tate's 61 career touchdown passes also ties him for eighth-best in Big Ten Conference history.

2. Randy Duncan

Randy Duncan began at Iowa as backup quarterback to Ken Ploen. Duncan was named starter the following year in 1957 and led Iowa to a 7-1-1 record.

In 1958, Duncan helped Iowa win a Big Ten title and was named first team All-Big Ten. The Hawkeyes led the nation in total offense that year, with Duncan leading in passing yardage.

Duncan's scoring pass in Iowa's Rose Bowl victory broke the school record for touchdown passes in a season.

Duncan finished second in the 1958 Heisman Trophy balloting behind Army's Pete Dawkins.

1. Chuck Long

Ask any Hawkeye fan in Iowa who the greatest college quarterback of all time is, and the name Chuck Long will be shouted from every window and doorway within earshot of the question.

Long was the starting quarterback at Iowa from 1981 to 1985. He graduated with one of the greatest careers ever compiled by a college quarterback.

Long's 10,461 career passing yards, 74 career touchdowns and 782 career completions are still firsts in Iowa history.

He is also the first Big Ten player and just the second player in college football history to throw for more than 10,000 yards in a career.

His single-season total of 27 touchdowns in 1985 stills looms over the record books.

Long finished second to Bo Jackson for the 1985 Heisman Trophy, the closest Heisman race in college football history until recently.

He was also the 1985 Davey O'Brien Award recipient and led the Hawkeyes to the Rose Bowl.

Long was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.