Kirk Ferentz has his signature quarterback. Does he have his signature offensive line?
QUARTERBACK
The closest thing Kirk Ferentz has had to a mediocre QB during a great season was first-year starter Nathan Chandler, who quarterbacked the Hawkeyes to a 10-3 year in 2003 (and did a damned fine job of it, to be clear); past that, you'd better be prepared to badmouth Brad Banks, Drew Tate or Ricky Stanzi. Each of those quarterbacks came into power as the result of tough competitions in which they weren't the most experienced QB (the closest you'd come is Banks, but Iowa spent the last half of 2001 talking itself into him, and thank goodness) and lo and behold, that's the situation into which Beathard finds himself flourishing today.