By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Chuck Long wasn’t sure what to make of Nate Stanley before the season started.

Long was just like everybody else in that regard because Stanley didn’t play enough as the backup quarterback to C.J. Beathard during his freshman season on the Iowa football team to help form an opinion.

Stanley was a big, strong-armed kid from Wisconsin who had done enough to win the starting job over junior Tyler Wiegers, but that was about all the information we had.

Stanley hadn’t really stood out in the few times that fans and the media saw him in the spring and in preseason practice.

But now after just nine games as a starter, Long has climbed on the Stanley bandwagon and thinks he has a chance to be special, one of the best quarterbacks that Iowa has ever produced.

And if anybody knows what it takes to excel as the Iowa quarterback, it’s the 54-year old Long, who started for four seasons at Iowa from 1982 to 1985 under Hayden Fry and finished runner-up for the Heisman Trophy as a senior in 1985.

“He could be top echelon easily for quarterbacks here,” Long said of Stanley on Sunday and barely 24 hours after Stanley had shredded Ohio State for five touchdown passes during a stunning 55-24 victory on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium. “I mean the way’s he playing and now he has confidence. It’s all about confidence in a player. And he certainly has the tools. He’s big, strong and can throw the ball.”

A native of Menomonie, Wis., the 6-foot-5, 235-pound Stanley will return home on Saturday to face the Wisconsin Badgers in a Big Ten border clash between two ranked teams.

Iowa (6-3) cracked the Associated Press poll for the first time this season on Sunday, coming in at No. 25, while the undefeated Badgers are ranked sixth.

Stanley is one of two Hawkeye quarterbacks in program history to throw at least five touchdown passes in a single game twice. He also torched Iowa State for five touchdowns during a 44-41 overtime victory on Sept. 9 in Ames.

Long knows how it feels to be on a roll like that as he twice threw six touchdown passes in a game for Iowa.

Long also holds the Iowa single-season record for most touchdown passes with 27, which he set in 1985. Stanley is in position to break that record with 22 touchdown passes and three regular-season games and a bowl game still remaining.

When asked if he thinks Stanley will break his record, Long said, "Let's hope so."

Long watched his alma mater crush Ohio State from the Big Ten Network’s studio in Chicago where he works as an analyst.

“I’ll be honest with you, yesterday it felt like he threw the ball for 400 yards,” Long said of Stanley, who actually threw for 226 yards against Ohio State. “He threw for two-and-whatever. But it felt like he threw for 400 the way he was throwing the ball.”

Stanley’s teammates have jokingly compared him to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and two-time Super Bowl champion Ben Roethlisberger.

But in some ways, mostly with regard to strength, it’s not a joke.

Stanley sort of resembled the 6-5, 241-pound Roethlisberger when he fired a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end T.J. Hockenson in the third quarter against Ohio State despite throwing from the back of his foot and having Ohio State defensive end Sam Hubbard draped all over his leg.

“He’s a strong, strong kid,” Long said of Stanley. “He may be one of the stronger quarterbacks, I don’t know what his bench press is, but he maybe one of the strongest they’ve ever had there to be honest with you.”

In addition to playing quarterback at a high level, including for six seasons in the NFL, Long also has coached quarterbacks at a high level.

He was the head coach at San Diego State for three seasons from 2006-08, the quarterbacks coach at Oklahoma from 2001-05, and co-offensive coordinator from 2002-05, and the offensive coordinator at Kansas in 2010 and 2011.

Long’s biggest concern with Stanley heading into the season was his lack of touch on short passes, especially those thrown to the tight end. Stanley had a tendency to throw the ball too hard, but that hardly was the case on Saturday against the Buckeyes as four of his five touchdown passes were caught by Hockenson and sophomore tight end Noah Fant.

“He’s added a little touch to his throws,” Long said. “And where you have to add touch is when you throw to tight ends. That’s where you learn touch passes to those guys because you have to put it right on them. You can’t lead those guys to spots. So he’s starting to develop a little touch with the ball.”

Long thinks he knows one way in which Iowa quarterbacks coach Ken O’Keefe has helped to improve Stanley’s touch.

“I’m guessing Ken O’Keefe got the garbage cans out and did a lot of bucket throwing with him,” Long said. “But he is changing his touch from the beginning of the year. All his balls were the same speed.”

Long knows first-hand that it takes the knowledge, guidance and support from the coaches for a quarterback to succeed. He benefited from having Fry and offensive coordinator Bill Snyder teaching him on a daily basis. 

Long said Stanley and first-year offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz are fortunate to have O’Keefe on the staff as the quarterback coach.

O’Keefe was the Iowa offensive coordinator from 1999 to 2011 before spending four seasons with the Miami Dolphins as receivers coach.

“It’s huge, and I promise you Brian Ferentz is leaning on him,” Long said of O’Keefe. “I would be. Brian is a brand new coordinator. You’ve got a guy who called plays at Iowa for 15 years, you better be leaning on Ken O’Keefe. He knows what he’s doing. He’s been at the NFL level now so he’s added that to his resume.”

In addition to Stanley’s physical tools, Long also has been impressed with his poise on the field. Stanley has had some rocky moments behind center this season, but nothing seems to rattle him. He shows little emotion and just moves on to the next play.

“I think Ken O”Keefe has done a tremendous job bring this kid along,” Long said. “They’ve kept it simple for him, which is good. And I love the kid’s poise and demeanor. He just keeps on going and gets better as the day goes. He’s unflappable. He’s just an unflappable kid.”

Long wasn't much of a threat to run as a quarterback and Stanley is the same way. Both would prefer to stay in the pocket.

However, Long thinks Iowa should take advantage of Stanley’s size and strength by using him on quarterbacks sneaks. That rarely has happened this season.

“They need to do more of that because you can push the pile now,” Long said. “He’s a big, strong guy. They need to do a little bit more of that with him.”

Stanley still is very much a work in progress three-fourths of the way through his sophomore season. He has struggled to complete long passes downfield and Long said Stanley needs to focus on that part of his game.

“That’s going to be his challenge and that’s his weakness and you always want to strengthen your weakness,” Long said. “And so it’s going to be adding touch to the long ball, but he’s getting a lot better.”

Stanley also seems more comfortable around the media compared to when the season began. He is a regular at Iowa’s weekly media event on Tuesday and always draws a crowd.

The spotlight will shine even brighter as Stanley’s career progresses. He will be an upperclassmen next season and that brings a bigger role as a leader.

“He’s oblivious to all the hype and how famous he can be,” Long said. “He doesn’t seem to care. But he’s still learning. He’s not even worried about that right now. When he’s better with the system and becomes the leader of the team, right now he’s really not the leader of the team yet. He’s kind of just finding his way and wants to earn it on the field.

“But once you become the leader, that’s where all the hype will set in. All the media will be all over him and those are things that he’ll have to learn as he moves forward as an Iowa football quarterback. How to deal with all that kind of pressure.”

Long said he wasn’t ready to be a leader in his first season as Iowa’s starting quarterback in 1982.

“My sophomore year in 82, I didn’t know anything,” Long said. “I was out there fighting from play to play and just trying to get the play right. I talked to the media, but I wasn’t worried about that. I was like, 'I’ve just got to get this play right. I’ve got to get this audible right. I’ve got to get this pass right.

“And then all of the sudden it clicks, it just sinks and then you’re like, uh-oh, okay, the next year all the microphones are in front of my face now before the year starts. Now they’re talking about me. Now it’s ramped up a little bit here. I feel like the program is on my shoulders a little bit more. And I’ll tell you what, after this victory (over Ohio State) that stuff will start settling in a little bit for him. That’s where Kirk Ferentz, Ken O’Keefe, those guys have to really do a good job of deflecting that and managing that for him.”