Hawkeye History Pod: Matt Sherman

[RobHowe]

NEW Hawkeye History Podcast with Matt Sherman, who experienced the highs and lows of being Iowa's starting QB and now works with a bunch of Gophers:

LINK

 

[hawkdrummer1]

NEW Hawkeye History Podcast with Matt Sherman, who experienced the highs and lows of being Iowa's starting QB and now works with a bunch of Gophers:

LINK

Matt's a good dude and great family man. Had a chance to hang out with him when I moved up here in the late 90s/early 2000s, watched a few IOWA bball games together. We also crossed paths professionally when he was in medical device sales. Solid guy...despite the maroon and gold clothes he now wears.

 

[RobHowe]

My first year covering Iowa football was his last season. He had a tough go of it, if you guys remember. Hayden came out and defending him, scolding the fans and media for getting on Matt.

 

[Xerxes]

After his SO year I thought the sky was the limit for him and Iowa in 1996 & 1997. Really his JR year in 1996 Iowa had a lot of things in place for a great season. Good OL & DL, talent at the skill spots, schedule brought the tough teams to Kinnick & no Michigan.

But great just didn’t happen. But one thing you can’t take away from him, Iowa won a lot of games with him starting at QB.

 

[trj]

My first year covering Iowa football was his last season. He had a tough go of it, if you guys remember. Hayden came out and defending him, scolding the fans and media for getting on Matt.

Yeah, I remember Tim Dwight came out and publicly defended him as well. It got really bad after the interception against Michigan. I have always wondered how all that criticism would have played out now with social media.

I have not listened to the podcast yet, but it sounds like it made him a stronger person.

 

[RobHowe]

Yeah, I remember Tim Dwight came out and publicly defended him as well. It got really bad after the interception against Michigan. I have always wondered how all that criticism would have played out now with social media.

I have not listened to the podcast yet, but it sounds like it made him a stronger person.

We talked about all of that and wondered about how things would have been with social media.

If anyone doesn't remember that time, here's an article I found that does a pretty good of recounting it. I remember the press conference. Hayden was pissed:

LINK

 

[EstronHawkKing]

Didn't he break his thumb during the Michigan in 97? We had like a two touchdown lead and Matt stayed in the game with the broken thumb and we ended up losing, I recall people blaming him for that. loss. Does this ring a bell with anyone? It's now a vague memory.

 

[Robowe]

Didn't he break his thumb during the Michigan in 97? We had like a two touchdown lead and Matt stayed in the game with the broken thumb and we ended up losing, I recall people blaming him for that. loss. Does this ring a bell with anyone? It's now a vague memory.

From Rob's link above ...

Sherman hurt his right hand during the Michigan game and did not play during Iowa's 62-0 win over Indiana last Saturday. Sophomore Randy Reiners stepped into the starting role and will be the No. 1 quarterback when Iowa takes the field against Big Ten co-leader Purdue.

 

[trj]

Didn't he break his thumb during the Michigan in 97? We had like a two touchdown lead and Matt stayed in the game with the broken thumb and we ended up losing, I recall people blaming him for that. loss. Does this ring a bell with anyone? It's now a vague memory.

Tavian Banks stated at the time he was open down the sidelines when Sherman threw the pick late over the middle to Dwight. I have no clue if that was accurate or not I would have to watch the game again to tell you.

 

[trj]

We talked about all of that and wondered about how things would have been with social media.

If anyone doesn't remember that time, here's an article I found that does a pretty good of recounting it. I remember the press conference. Hayden was pissed:

LINK

The podcast was a really good listen, all of it. But the whole Jake Plummer thing threw me for a hot second. It made me wonder how close he actually was to putting on the Iowa uniform.

 

[Hawkalum2002]

Tavian Banks stated at the time he was open down the sidelines when Sherman threw the pick late over the middle to Dwight. I have no clue if that was accurate or not I would have to watch the game again to tell you.

It appears from the replay after the play, Tavian had two guys on him around the goalline when the throw was made. Might be Damon Gibson though, can't really see the number, but I think I see 22 when he puts his hands on his head. Dwight was triple covered and the pass was forced, but because of the broken thumb was never close to getting to him. Always felt terrible that despite a couple bowl wins, Sherman never beat OSU or Michigan to really cement himself. Although winning at Happy Valley was a pretty big win after we'd played them so tough the year before at Kinnick before faltering in the fourth quarter. That was before we realized that we'd turned the tide against JoePa and would nearly own him the remainder of his tenure.

 

[ChosenChildren]

I have a very good memory of the 1996 and 1997 seasons. Iowa went 9-3 in 96 and 7-5 in 97.

Those were good teams, but I never thought the problem was Matt Sherman.

I believe that the issue was very predictable, conservative play calling by Hayden. Bill Snyder was long gone, and Fry was really running the offense. That was unfortunate for those teams, because at that stage I truly believe Hayden should have turned over the play calling to someone else. I distinctly remember Iowa's failure to get the ball in Tim Dwight's hands on a consistent basis. I blame that on Hayden.

Matt Sherman was a fine quarterback

 

[Hawk90]

It was fun to re-watch this game. Tavian Banks and Tim Dwight, wow, I had forgotten. On the negative side relative to Phil Parker's defense the Iowa d-backs seemed extremely slow. But maybe it was just how good Michigan was.