By Jordan Hansen
After a breakout 2015 campaign, the bar is set high for Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard.
Yes, all of last year’s wins are in the past (the players have been quite adamant about this), but even still, it’s nearly impossible to not have expectations for Beathard this season. He led Iowa further than just about any quarterback in team history during his first true season of starting.
And remember, this came after an up-and-down 2014 season in which he was competing with Jake Rudock for a starting job deep into the season. Beathard, of course, won the job after the season, but it was a very public quarterback battle that ended with Rudock transferring to Michigan.
Add in his playing injured for the majority of the season, and a portrait of one very tough individual starts to take shape.
“He’s a remarkable young man, and I think we all got to see that last year,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “Talk about a guy that handled a bunch of tough circumstances in a really admirable way.”
Now, Beathard is a star and not just locally. He’s a quarterback with an up-and-coming country star brother, a successful songwriting father, and a Super Bowl-winning grandfather.
Excellence runs in the family, and C.J. is starting to separate his name from the rest. Whether it’s cycling into the right play at the line of scrimmage or throwing a pass while on the move, he has the ability to do just about anything he wants.
It’s a rarity to find that type of talent, and it would be crushing for everyone with a vested interest in the team if he can’t replicate part of what he did last season. This won’t be truer for anyone than it will be for the team itself.
Losing the Big Ten Championship by a hair and a disappointing Rose Bowl was a lot for the Hawkeyes to swallow, but perhaps that’s where their extremely strong “last year was last year” mentality comes from.
Maybe it’s simply a coping mechanism.
Regardless, Beathard and the rest of the Hawks don’t care what people outside the program predict, which fits right in with his personality. He knows what he has to do to continue his journey forward, and nothing anyone on the outside says should make much of a difference.
“We’re going to do everything we can to get back to where we were last year,” Beathard said. “I don’t think it’s anything we have to prove to people on the outside. Honestly, I don’t care what people on the outside — what their expectations are.”
If things go well this season, Beathard could be in line for more awards to add to his trophy case. It’s still hard to know just how good he can be.
Injuries, of course, are still a very real fear with his sports-hernia issue, which raises a question — what happens if Beathard has to miss time?
Since this is technically a positional preview, we’d be remiss not to mention the backups. Currently, incumbent second-string quarterback Tyler Wiegers is fighting off true freshman Nathan Stanley for the spot.
Drew Cook looms (literally — he’s massive) in the background and will probably be the scout-team quarterback. If Stanley can’t convincingly beat out Wiegers for the position, he’ll likely be redshirted and given a chance to fight for the spot next season.
Speaking of which, the battle for the starting job next season will be incredibly interesting to watch. Beathard will leave a large hole in the roster after he leaves, and it won’t be easy to fill.
That’s in the future, though, and for right now, it’s much easier to focus on this year.
“I’ve got an entire season left to prove myself and prove to my teammates that we can achieve the goals we haven’t achieved yet,” Beathard said. “This team is 0-0, and what I have to do is lead this team to a great season, hopefully a Big Ten Championship and a bowl game.”
Follow @JordyHansen for Iowa football news, updates, and analysis.