Last week I talked about 15 to 11 which included No. 15 DJ Koulianos, No. 14 Keith Duncan, No. 13 Noah Fant, No. 12 Ricky Stanzi, No. 11 Marvin McNutt.
My top two offensive lineman were Robert Gallery and Brandon Scherff
10. C. J. Beathard
C.J. had 21 wins as starting quarterback for the Hawkeyes which is the third all-time best for Iowa.
In C.J.’s freshman season (2013) he played in five games throwing on TD pass.
As a sophomore in 2014, C.J. played in nine games with one start completing 52-92 for 645 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions.
In the TaxSlayer Bowl, Iowa lost to Tennessee 45-28
Jake Rudock and C.J. split time with Beathard, who threw two touchdown passes in the 4th quarter.
At the start of 2015, head coach Kirk Ferentz announced C.J. would be the starting QB when spring practice started. Jake Rudock transferred to Michigan and started for the Wolverines in 2015 leading them to a 10-3 record including a 41-7 win over Florida in the Citrus Bowl.
Iowa came out blazing in 2015 going 12-0, their first unbeaten season since 1921.
C.J. was named offensive MVP and second team All-Big Ten.
He threw 17 touchdowns with five interceptions and ran for 237 yards and scored six times.
Against Iowa State with the Clones leading 10-3, Iowa had a first and 10 on their own seven.
C.J. was almost sacked but got the ball out to the one.
On the next play, C.J. scrambled up the right sideline for a 44 yard gain.
The Hawks would score on that drive on a TD pass from C.J. to Tevaun Smith and the game was tied at 10.
The Hawks would go on to win 31-17 with Beathard throwing two more touchdown passes.
As a senior in 2016, C.J. started 13 games and the Hawks finished 8-5.
The former Tennessee prep completed 57% of his passes for 1,929 yards and 17 touchdowns.
C.J. had six fourth quarter game winning drives in his career.
9. Drew Tate
Drew burst on the scene in 2004 leading Iowa to a 10-2 season and a tie for the Big Ten Championship.
Drew was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and first team all-Big Ten.
The 6-0, 190 pound QB passed for 2,786 yards, 20 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and ran for two more.
No Hawkeye fan over 30 will ever forget Drew’s 56 yard touchdown pass to Warren Holloway as time expired in the 30-25 win over LSU in the 2005 Capital One Bowl.
Tate was named MVP of the Bowl game.
LSU was coached by Nick Saban.
In 2005, Iowa dropped to 7-5 losing 31-21 to Florida in the Outback Bowl.
Drew completed 62% of his passes for 2,828 yards, 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
In 2006, Drew’s senior year, the Hawks were 6-7 losing to Texas 26-24 in the Alamo Bowl.
Drew completed 58.8% of his passes for 18 TD’s and 13 interceptions.
Drew is a quarterback coach at UNI.
I wonder if the current Drew could coach the college Drew, who was an intense competitor.
8. Akrum Wadley
Akrum is one of four Hawkeye running backs to rush for over 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons.
Ladell Betts, Sedrick Shaw and Fred Russell are the other three.
Akrum has a breakout game when he was a sophomore scoring four touchdowns against Northwestern which tied a school record.
Akrum finished the 2015 season with 496 yards and seven scores.
2016, Akrum’s junior year, he had 1,081 yards and scored 10 times. He also caught 36 passes and had three TD receptions.
In 2017, Akron’s senior year, the 5’11” 195 pound running back ran for 1,109 yards with 10 scores. He also caught 28 passes with three touchdowns.
One of my favorite touchdowns Akrum scored was against Iowa State in 2017.
The Hawks were trailing 38-31 with less 1:30 left in the game.
Iowa had a 1st and 10 on the Clone 46 yard line.
Nate Stanley found Akrum across the middle, Akrum ran toward the left sideline, broke a couple of tackles, stopped at the 10 and then ran through two Clones to tie the score.
Iowa would win in overtime 44-41 with Ihmir Smith-Marsette catching a 5-yard pass from Stanley.
Akrum set a Hawkeye record with 171 kickoff return yards in the Pinstripe Bowl win over Boston College. He was the MVP of the game with 283 all-purpose yards and one TD.
For his career, Akrum averaged 5.4 yards per carry.
Tavian Banks (5.9), Shonn Greene (5.9) and Nick Bell (5.6) are the only modern day Hawks that had a better career average.
7. T.J. Hockenson
T.J. came to Iowa from Chariton, Iowa that has a population of around 4,200.
The 6-4, 250 pound tight end caught 158 passes his last two years in high school.
After redshirting in 2016 T.J. caught 24 passes, scored three touchdowns and was named honorable mention and academic all-Big Ten in 2017.
In 2017, T.J. led Iowa with 49 receptions for 760 yards and six scores.
T.J. won the John Mackey award as the nation’s top tight end and made first team all-Big Ten plus first team All-America.
T.J. was drafted No. 8 in the first round of the 2018 NL draft.
6. Fred Russell
Fred didn’t play as a freshman in 2000.
In 2001 Fred had 21 carries for 121 yards and a TD.
Fred broke out for 1,294 yards with nine touchdowns in the Hawkeyes 10-2 Big Ten championship season.
In 2003, Fred ran for 1,355 yards with seven scores.
At 5-8, 185, Fred used his quickness and speed to average 5.3 yards per carry. He was fun to watch when he got into the open.
Top Offensive Lineman
3. Eric Steinbach
Eric was a consensus all American in 2002 and was the Big Ten Lineman of the Year that season.
Eric came to Iowa as a tight end, moved to guard in 2002 and was All Big Ten in 2001 and 2002.
4. Tyler Linderbaum
Tyler started out on defense in 2018 but switched to center in 2019.
The former Solon prep started 13 games in 2019 and was honorable mention All-Big Ten.
In 2020, Tyler was a first team All American and first team All-Big Ten.
2021 saw Tyler win the Rimington Trophy as the best center in the nation and was a unanimous All American.
Next week I’ll finish with the top five offensive players plus the 5th and 6th best offensive lineman under Captain Kirk.
