No, the Tennessee Volunteers won’t go to Columbus expecting quarterback Nico Iamaleava to lead the team to victory over Ohio State in the first round of the College Football Playoffs.
Despite his hype, Iamaleava isn’t the biggest reason the Volunteers are 10-2 and still alive in the hunt for a national championship. The Volunteers’ impressive defense takes top honors, and running back Dylan Sampson is another key part of the picture.
But Iamaleava could provide enough of a boost to get the Volunteers over the top and on to a quarterfinal matchup against mighty Oregon.
Nico Iamaleava could have a big day against Buckeyes
After a so-so performance against Georgia, Iamaleava may have been pushed into the background as the Volunteers tried to recover and earn a spot in the CFP. However, the red-shirt freshman threw eight of his season-total 19 touchdown passes in the Volunteers final two games.
So what? That came against Texas-El Paso and Vanderbilt. Not exactly the kings of college football. But these games were the two most productive of the season for Iamaleava. Only once this year did he hit for three touchdowns. That came against Chattanooga in a runaway season-opening win. The rest of the way, Iamaleava only threw a pair of touchdown passes twice, once each against Mississippi State and North Carolina State.
It’s interesting to note that Iamaleava’s lesser games included Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, Kentucky, and Georgia. Those are the best teams the Volunteers played. Therefore, Iamaleava has something to prove against the Buckeyes. That’s true even though Iamaleava already etched his name into the Tennessee record books. He’s the first freshman in school history to win 10 games as a starter.
Josh Heupel sees growth in Nico Iamaleava
Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel said Iamaleava has that short-memory thing that all quarterbacks need, according to tennessee.rivals.com.
“I just think his ability to reset and go play the next play, next drive, next half,” Heupel said. “His ability to continue to grow and compete throughout the course of the football game. As a young quarterback, that is really hard to do. He’s done a really good job of that.”
But even more so, Iamaleva is growing into a leadership role, Heupel said.
“As a young player, everybody wants the quarterback to be the leader immediately,” Heupel said. “Smart, young quarterbacks understand that there’s a growth and an evolution to it. Nico has been great in one-on-one situations from the time that he got here. Communicating with wideouts, he grew into communicating and challenging the five guys in front of him. But now you can feel as he started to play, you can feel his presence in everything that we’re doing every single day.
“Nico’s got a great understanding of, man, you’ve got to be with the guys. You’re not one of the guys when you’re the quarterback. But you’ve got to be with the guys. You see him at the hotel on Friday nights. He’s eating dinner with the offensive linemen, he’s with the defensive linemen. He does a great job of getting out of his quarterback group or just the offensive unit, and developing relationships with those guys. That’s a big part of leadership. Those guys have a relationship with you, understanding that you care about them, allows you to lead them.”
It’s going to take a fine performance from Iamaleava. Ohio State can play defense. The Buckeyes have nine interceptions and can get after the quarterback with 35 sacks. Still, signs point to this be the game where Iamaleava finally shines against a top opponent. From there, the sky’s the limit.
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