By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Nate Stanley’s career as an Iowa quarterback won’t be defined by what happens on Saturday night under the lights at Kinnick Stadium.

One game doesn’t make or break a career, or a season, for that matter, because it’s just one game out of about 40 in which Stanley could play for the Hawkeyes.

So Stanley shouldn’t feel that he has the weight of the world on his shoulders when Iowa faces No. 18 Wisconsin on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

But Stanley should feel a sense of urgency to perform well because it’s the much-anticipated Big Ten opener against a ranked opponent who has dominated Iowa for about a decade, and because he performed woefully against the Badgers last season, completing just 8-of-24 passes for 41 yards while also being sacked four times.

Iowa’s performance on offense was a disaster, and it left fans and members of the media befuddled because just a week earlier Stanley had shredded Ohio State for five touchdown passes during a stunning 55-24 victory at Kinnick Stadium.

The Buckeye beat-down is without question the high point to Stanley’s up-and-down Hawkeye career so far, followed by his five-touchdown performance against Iowa State last season.

And now it’s time for Stanley to have another one of those standout performances. He doesn’t necessarily have to throw five touchdown passes again, but he also can’t have one of those games where he throws for fewer than 200 yards and festers in the pocket for too long, causing the offense to bog down.

It seems fair to say that Stanley has been wildly inconsistent as Iowa’s starting quarterback, with flashes of brilliance mixed in with mediocrity or worse.

Stanley threw 26 touchdown passes and just six interceptions last season, but he only threw five touchdown passes in Iowa’s five losses and his longest completion against the Badgers covered just 10 yards.

Star tight end Noah Fant also was held without a catch against Wisconsin last season.

“There’s a lot of learning experiences and a lot of situations where we could have made some plays that we didn’t” Stanley said of last season’s loss to Wisconsin. “So it was definitely a lot of learning.”

“We just hurt ourselves, too, much and that comes back to us wanting to play more consistent this year and kind of eliminate the drive-killing penalties or drive-killing mistakes.”

Quarterback is considered the most important position in team sports, and Stanley’s statistics from last season would strongly support that claim.

When Stanley performed well last season, Iowa performed well, and vice versa.

It now is time for Stanley to deliver again by using his cannon for an arm, his 16 games of starting experience and his depth at tight end and running back to get the job done on Saturday.

The fact that Stanley grew up in Wisconsin should only fuel his fire. He not surprisingly tried to downplay that angle when addressing the media on Tuesday, but don’t let that fool you.

Hidden beneath Stanley’s laid-back demeanor is a burning desire to beat his home-state school. There has to be because you don’t make it this far as a quarterback without being highly competitive and proud.

State bragging rights will also be on the line, although, it’s hard to see the soft-spoken Stanley brag about anything besides the play of his teammates.

Stanley is so much like his head coach in that he never says the wrong thing, never takes credit for anything and doesn’t get too high or too low regardless of the circumstances.

He is almost robotic, and that isn’t meant as criticism.

Stanley’s lack of emotion is called poise when he plays well and passivity when he doesn’t.

“A lot of people are coming to the game, a lot of people that I know will be there,” Stanley said. “So really, just have to kind of focus in and re-ground myself and what I need to do to be prepared to play this game.”

That’s about as close as Stanley will come to admitting that any one game is special.

The winner on Saturday will really have a two-game lead in the Big Ten West Division with the head-to-head tiebreaker on its side.

Ferentz also tried to downplay the significance of Saturday’s game in true Ferentz fashion, but he did acknowledge that the Big Ten West Division title goes through Madison until proven otherwise.

“The last couple years it has, for sure,” Ferentz said. “But whether we win this game or lose the game, still eight weeks of football left, no matter what happens. We'll deal with it either side. It's a long season. This is a big game, a conference game.”

Whether Iowa wins or loses on Saturday will depend a lot on Stanley. He is certainly no solo act, but he is the quarterback and with that role comes a huge amount of responsibility and expectations.

There is speculation that Stanley might have a chance to leave for the NFL after his junior season, and it's not just fans who are pushing that narrative.

ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay released his preseason top 32 draft prospects in August and Stanley checked in at No. 23.

Stanley is one of just two quarterbacks on the list, along with North Carolina State’s Ryan Finley at No. 16.

McShay gives Stanley an 86 grade and has this to say about him:

“With good size, tremendous arm strength and the ability to move well in the pocket, the 6-4, 240-pounder emerged after being handed the keys last season,” McShay wrote. “The accuracy outpaces the completion percentage, but ball placement and timing will need to improve. Stanley's spot here is a bet on ceiling.”

Iowa needs for Stanley to show that high ceiling on Saturday.