Tennessee football listed quarterback Nico Iamaleava as questionable on its Wednesday night injury report ahead of Saturday’s showdown at Georgia.
Iamaleava is reportedly in concussion protocol this week after suffering a head injury late in the second quarter of Tennessee’s 33-14 victory over Mississippi State last week. The redshirt freshman quarterback played two more snaps to end the first half before backup quarterback Gaston Moore replaced him in the second half.
Tennessee’s first-year starting quarterback was playing the best football of his young career leading up to the injury. Iamaleava played well in the second half against Alabama before playing his best game of the season against Kentucky.
He continued the positive momentum in the first half against a bad Mississippi State defense, completing eight-of-13 passed for 174 yards and two touchdowns. After struggling to connect on long passes earlier in SEC play, Iamaleava connected with Squirrel White for a 34-yard touchdown and Dont’e Thornton for a 73-yard touchdown.
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Moore, super senior walk-on, was solid but not great after replacing Iamaleava. He completed five-of-eight passes for 38 yards while Tennessee receivers drew pass interference calls on three passes down the field.
The challenge for whoever starts at quarterback for Tennessee becomes much more difficult this Saturday as Tennessee heads to Athens to face No. 12 Georgia. The Bulldogs’ defense isn’t quite as strong as they’ve been in recent years but they still are one of the best in the conference.
Tennessee’s meeting with Georgia has major SEC Championship and College Football Playoff ramifications. A win over Georgia would solidify the Vols playoff position and put them a win away from advancing to the SEC Championship for the first time since 2007.
After dropping its second game of the season last week at Ole Miss, the Bulldogs must defend home field and beat Tennessee if they want to make it into the 12-team College Football Playoff. Georgia is riding a 28-game home winning streak entering the game and has been at its best under Kirby Smart with its back against the wall.
Kickoff at Sanford Stadium is at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe are on the call for ABC.
One Response
I’m not worried. Nico hasn’t been so incredibly magical that the Vols couldn’t soldier on should he not be able to play on Saturday; he’s been overthrowing and making less than perfect decisions lately. Gaston Moore has been playing solidly in situations that would make anyone else shake in his boots, such as last weekend’s game when he suddenly had to step in for the entire 2nd half. He played very well, and the Vols came out on top.
I don’t think the team is “in trouble” should #8 have to ride the bench between the hedges on Saturday. They’ll be covered no matter which QB leads them into the field.