It worked with Tom Brady and Drew Henson at Michigan. Florida head coach Urban Meyer found success in 2005 with Tim Tebow and Chris Leak. And now, there's talk of Ohio State using Todd Boeckman and Terrelle Pryor.
Yes, two-quarterback systems - usually featuring a gifted scrambler and a traditional pocket-passer - have worked in the past. But no one is mistaking junior Iowa quarterback Jake Christensen for Tom Brady, and sophomore Ricky Stanzi doesn't have the hype surrounding him that Ohio State's Pryor does.
In the 457-yard offensive outburst against Maine, Iowa fans got their first glimpse of this two-quarterback system in action. The question now: Can it work for the long-term?
"Until somebody grabs onto the thing, we'll proceed along,"
coach Kirk Ferentz said after his team's 46-3 victory over the Black Bears. "It's like any other position: If things are close, we'll try to make a fair evaluation and go from there."
Right now, the 10-year coach said, there is no timetable for this evaluation, though he would prefer to not have a two-quarterback system last the whole season.
"I would rather [it] not [last all year], but we'll do whatever is fair and best for the team,"
Ferentz said. "The perfect world probably not, but you know, [in] 1981 it worked OK, and I think that's the only year I've been involved in something like that."
As long as the competition continues, Stanzi - who had only thrown four passes going into the season - will continue gain some valuable experience.
"It was nice. When I looked back I was like, 'Wow, I just played half of a game,' "
said Stanzi, who threw for 90 yards on 9-of-14 completions against Maine. "It was kind of like you didn't even know it."
Sophomore wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos didn't express a preference between the two quarterbacks, but he did say he liked Stanzi's demeanor against Maine.
"Rick's coming into the spotlight now, and people are starting to know him,"
Johnson-Koulianos said. "I like to call him 'Slick Rick' because he's just so smooth. He's always just so graceful, so calm. The idea of pressure - he loves it. Coming into the huddle, he calls his play real cool. He makes his reads. He's just seems like he's meant for it."
Regardless of who becomes the permanent starter, Ferentz likes that he now has two good quarterbacks on his depth chart.
"So we've gone from, you know, having one quarterback to I think now two,"
Ferentz said. "Clearly, both guys are better than they were a year ago. That's a good thing."
