Iowa Football: 5 Bold Predictions for September

1. Nate Stanley’s passing numbers

Last year at this time, it was just announced that Nate Stanley had been chosen as the starting quarterback against Wyoming. It proved to be the right choice as Stanley made his presence known very well in the month of September in 2017. He completed 80 passes on 136 attempts, for 1,038 yards, 12 touchdown, 1 interception and a completion percentage of 58.8 percent. Not to shabby for a true sophomore.

Coming into his junior season, there’s no question Stanley has a cannon of an arm, maybe the strongest arm in the Big Ten. But, the question of his accuracy is a fair question to ask, as he only completed 55.8 percent of his passes. My prediction here is that Stanley will finish September with a completion percentage better than 60 percent, with 1,100 yards passing. 

This should be a feasible accomplishment, given Iowa returns a large chunk of their receiving game and the offensive line is a nice mix of veteran and young players. We don’t need to see Stanley pull magic like he did in last year’s Cy-Hawk Game, but consistency is absolutely key in the Iowa offense.