Comparing Nico Iamaleava to other Tennessee Freshmen QBs

After a record-setting start to the 2024 season, Tennessee’s offense has cooled off significantly since entering SEC play. Several Vol fans — not a large number, but still larger than I think it should be — have begun to wonder if former five-star prospect Nico Iamaleava is all he’s cracked up to be as the Vols’ starting quarterback because of the offense’s struggles over the last month.

I think it’s worth noting that while Iamaleava definitely has had his struggles and poor decisions, he’s also had less-than-stellar play from his offensive line and has had a beat up receiver room over the last couple games.

Also, he’s still technically a freshman. A redshirt freshman, so yes, he’s in his second year at Tennessee. But this is his first as the full-time starting quarterback, and he only just turned 20 almost two months ago. Plus, it’s not like his numbers are even bad, and the Vols are sitting pretty at 6-1 with five regular season games remaining.

Point is, Iamaleava is still very young, not polished, and is going through the rigors of a full season as the starting quarterback in the SEC for the first time ever. I also think some Vol fans have some unreasonable expectations for what a freshman/redshirt freshman quarterback should be like, at least based on what most young quarterbacks like that have done in the SEC. Even the highly-touted ones.

But don’t just take my word for it; let’s look at what Tennessee’s own history says.

I looked back over the last 30 years, dating back to Peyton Manning, to see how first/second-year starting quarterbacks have fared at Tennessee to compare their numbers and performances to what Nico has done so far in seven starts this season.

A few stipulations for the list of quarterbacks I gathered: All quarterbacks I considered had to be true freshmen, redshirt freshmen, or true sophomores when they made their first start, and they had to have started between six and eight games in that season so the sample size was on par with Iamaleava’s seven starts as a redshirt freshman so far. There are two slight exceptions on the list, and they’re Tyler Bray (five starts) and Josh Dobbs. For Bray, he’s only one game out from that six-to-eight game window I specified, and his freshman season in 2010 is so notable that I felt it would’ve been dumb to not include it. I explain why Dobbs is an exception in his section below.

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Before we look at the history, lets look at what Nico’s numbers say so far this season:

Through seven starts in his redshirt freshman season, Nico is 6-1 as a starter and has faced four SEC teams, an ACC team, a MAC team, and an FCS school. Three of his seven starts have been away from Neyland Stadium, and he’s 2-1 as the starting QB in those contests.

In those seven starts, Iamaleava has the following stat line:

108-of-170 passing (63.5%), 1,413 yards, 8 TDs, 4 INTs, 53 carries, 179 yards, 1 rushing TD

Now, keep those numbers in mind as you read the rest of this article and look at some of the numbers put up by notable Vol quarterbacks over the last few decades.

Peyton Manning: 7 starts as a true freshman in 1994, 6-1 record (8th start came in Gator Bowl, but bowl game stats didn’t count toward final stats for players until 2002). Manning’s starts came against 5 SEC teams, a PAC-10 team, and Memphis. Two of his seven starts were on the road.

Stat line: 72-of-116 (62.1%), 858 yards, 9 TDs, 5 INTs

Manning’s Tennessee career got off to relatively humble beginnings. He didn’t take over as the starting quarterback until after both Jerry Colquitt and Todd Helton suffered season-ending injuries. Even once he did become the first freshman starting QB for the Vols since the 1970s, he still split time with fellow freshman Branndon Stewart. Manning flashed his potential at times, but he also had some absolute stinkers, including only throwing for 79 yards in his first career start against Washington State and 32 yards and an interception against Memphis.

Manning, much like Iamaleava, also benefitted from a stellar rushing attack with a record-setting running back he could hand the ball off to. James Stewart finished the 1994 campaign with 1,028 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, and he finished that season and his UT career as the Vols’ all-time leading rusher with 2,890 yards (Travis Henry would break that record a few years later). Aaron Hayden (819 yards) and Jay Graham (275 yards) rounded out a very dangerous backfield for Peyton in his first year as UT’s starting quarterback. Tennessee’s defense in 1994, much like the 2024 defense, was also stingy, though they didn’t start playing that way till after Manning took over at QB. In the last seven games of the 1994 regular season, none of UT’s opponents scored more than 22 points, and the Vols allowed an average of just 11.7 points a game in those seven games after giving up 25.8 points a contest in the first four games.

Casey Clausen: Six starts as a true freshman in 2000, 6-0 record (7th start came in Cotton Bowl, but bowl game stats didn’t count toward final stats for players until 2002). Clausen’s starts came against five SEC teams and Memphis. Three of his six starts were on the road.

Stat line: 104-of-166 (62.7%), 1,300 yards, 12 TDs, 5 INTs

Casey Clausen made his first career start at quarterback against Alabama midway through the 2000 season, and he followed that up with his second start coming on the road against No. 17 South Carolina. His next start was also on the road against Memphis, so you could say Clausen had one of the tougher beginnings to a young quarterback career at Tennessee.

All he did was lead the Vols to victory in every regular season game he started as a true freshman.

Outside of his first start against the Tide when he threw two touchdowns and no interceptions, Clausen didn’t really wow fans in his first few starts, but the Vols won all the same. He closed his freshman season on an absolute heater, though, tossing five touchdowns against Arkansas and four touchdowns and 362 yards against Kentucky in back-to-back weeks before coming back down to earth against Vanderbilt in the regular season finale (158 yards, one TD, two INTs). Casey also had a record-setting RB at his disposal, with Travis Henry totaling 1,314 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in 2000, passing James Stewart as the school’s all-time leading rusher. Tennessee’s defense also helped out the freshman QB, allowing less than 20 points per game in Clausen’s six starts.

Erik Ainge: 6 starts as a true freshman in 2004, 4-2 record. Ainge’s starts came against 5 SEC teams and Notre Dame. Three of his six starts were on the road.

Stat line: 73-of-142 (51.4%), 944 yards, 9 TDs, 8 INTs

Just like with Casey Clausen, Erik Ainge had a brutal schedule to deal with when he took over as UT’s starting quarterback as a true freshman. The Vols started the 2004 season with a dual-QB situation with true freshmen Brent Schaeffer and Erik Ainge splitting time at the position. Schaeffer started the first three games of the season, but Ainge earned starting duties when Tennessee hosted No. 8 Auburn to begin October.

Ainge’s first career start was one of the worst of his career, as he threw four interceptions in a 34-10 thrashing at home against the Tigers. But he bounced back admirably on the road against No. 3 Georgia with two touchdowns and no picks, and the Vols pulled the 19-14 upset. His next start was also on the road, this time against Ole Miss, and UT won that one too. It helped that Ainge had one of the most productive running back duos in UT history to hand the ball off to, with both Gerald Riggs Jr. and Cedric Houston totaling 1,000-plus rushing yards in 2004.

Ainge was starting to find his rhythm as the starting quarterback when disaster struck. He suffered a season-ending injury during Tennessee’s home loss to Notre Dame in his sixth start of the season, and Rick Clausen would take over as the Vols’ quarterback because Schaeffer was also injured at the time.

Nick Stephens: Six starts as a redshirt freshman in 2008, 2-4 record. Stephens’ starts came against four SEC teams, a MAC team, and a MWC team. Two of his six starts were on the road.

Stat line: 62-of-128 (48.4%), 798 yards, 4 TDs, 3 INTs

You’re forgiven if you don’t remember that Nick Stephens started six games at quarterback for the Vols in 2008. Tennessee’s 2008 offense is widely regarded as the most ineffective and putrid offense in modern UT history, and that offensive disaster was the final nail in the coffin for Phillip Fulmer’s tenure as head coach.

Stephens took over as UT’s starting quarterback after Jonathan Crompton began the year as the Vols’ chief signal-caller. The one thing Stephens did really well as quarterback was take care of the ball, as he didn’t throw an interception in his first four starts. Unfortunately, he only threw three touchdowns in that span, and his two wins were against Northern Illinois and a Mississippi State team that finished with a 4-8 record that season. After mustering just nine points against No. 2 Alabama and six points on the road against South Carolina, Stephens’ final start came in one of the most notorious games in UT history, a 13-7 loss at home to Wyoming. Stephens went 3-of-9 for 27 yards and two picks in that game, and Crompton took back over at quarterback to end the season.

Tyler Bray: Five starts as a true freshman in 2010, 4-1 record. Bray’s five starts came against three SEC teams, Memphis, and North Carolina in the Music City Bowl. Three of his five starts were away from home.

Stat line: 100-of-177 (56.5%), 1,546 yards, 16 TDs, 7 INTs

In Derek Dooley’s first season as head coach, the Vols were in desperation mode heading into November with a 2-6 record. The offense needed a shot in the arm to try and salvage the season with the schedule lightening up in the final month, so Dooley turned to true freshman Tyler Bray to inject some life into his team and try and turn things around.

And it worked.

Bray immediately set the fanbase ablaze when he scorched Memphis for five touchdowns and 325 yards on the road in his first career start. He followed that up with three touchdowns and 323 yards against Ole Miss at home, leading the Vols to back-to-back 50-point games. His passing numbers weren’t quite as astronomical in the final two regular season games against Vanderbilt and Kentucky, but he helped lead the Vols to victory all the same, and UT managed to become bowl eligible. Bray’s only loss as starting quarterback in 2010 came in Tennessee’s infamous Music City Bowl game against North Carolina, and he threw three interceptions in that contest to go along with four touchdowns and 312 yards.

Statistically, Bray blows every other true freshman quarterback out of the water at Tennessee. He threw for 300-plus yards in four of his five starts and sparked a previously mediocre Vol offense. Granted, Tennessee’s schedule softened a lot when Bray took over (UT played five ranked teams in their first eight games, then none in Bray’s four regular season starts), but his efforts are still highly impressive nonetheless.

Josh Dobbs: Four starts as a true freshman in 2013, five starts as a sophomore in 2014, 5-4 record. Dobbs’ nine starts came against eight SEC teams and Iowa in the Taxslayer Bowl. Five of his nine starts were away from home.

2014 stat line: 67-of-109 (61.5%), 620 yards, 2 TDs, 6 INTs, 35 carries, 170 yards, 1 TD
2015 stat line: 93-of-145 (64.1%), 1,014 yards, 7 TDs, 5 INTs, 85 carries, 394 yards, 8 TDs
Total stat line: 160-of-254 (63%), 1,634 yards, 9 TDs, 11 INTs, 120 carries, 564 yards, 9 TDs

Josh Dobbs’ stat line is an exception to this list, because he technically fits in both categories I outlined at the beginning, and he wasn’t the full-time starter to begin his second season after starting as a true freshman, unlike every other quarterback on this list (minus Nick Stephens). Over his first two seasons, he made just nine starts out of a possible 25 games.

Dobbs took over at quarterback during the Vols’ loss on the road to No. 1 Alabama in 2013 after Justin Worley suffered a season-ending injury, and the only reason he went into the game instead of Nathan Peterman or Riley Ferguson was because they also were injured. It was Dobbs or nobody, and he was thrown into a rough situation in Butch Jones’ first year as head coach. His first start was on the road against No. 10 Missouri, and his next one came against No. 7 Auburn at home. Dobbs struggled at QB (thanks, in part, to an offense that lacked a lot of talent at every position group), failing to throw or run for a touchdown until the final game of the season at home against Kentucky, where he finally broke through with two passing scores and a rushing touchdown.

Dobbs brought a true dual-threat capability to a Butch Jones offense that needed a QB who could run, but despite that and some clear ability he flashed as a freshman, Jones elected to stick with Justin Worley as the starter in 2014.

But just like in 2013, Dobbs took over at quarterback in the middle of Tennessee’s contest against Alabama in 2014. This time, he took over after another failed starting attempt by Nathan Peterman, and he played more extensively in that game and looked much more competent. His first start of 2014 made him a household name among Vol fans, as he electrified the offense on the road against South Carolina, leading Tennessee to a thrilling overtime victory with 166 rushing yards and three touchdowns to go along with 301 passing yards and two scores. Dobbs’ only loss as starting quarterback that season was a 29-21 defeat at the hands of No. 19 Missouri, but it was clear by the end of the 2014 season that Dobbs would be the undisputed starter heading into 2015, and that was further solidified by his three touchdown performance against Iowa in UT’s 45-28 victory in the Taxslayer Bowl.

Jarrett Guarantano: Six starts as a redshirt freshman in 2017, 1-5 record. Guarantano’s six starts came against five SEC teams and a C-USA team. Two of his six starts were on the road.

Stat line: 74-of-115 (64.3%), 943 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs, 1 rushing TD

The last quarterback to qualify for this list prior to Iamaleava is none other than Jarrett Guarantano. Before he was the face of the Jeremy Pruitt era at quarterback, he began his career on the bench as a true freshman under Butch Jones in 2016 and was part of a major QB controversy in Tennessee’s historically-bad 2017 campaign.

Quinten Dormady began the 2017 season as the Vols’ starting quarterback, but after a closer-than-expected high-scoring affair against Georgia Tech to start the season and a win against overmatched Indiana State, it was clear that the offense wasn’t clicking. That became painfully obvious after a 41-0 embarrassment against No. 7 Georgia at home. After that, Guarantano took over as starting quarterback, but he unfortunately wasn’t able to lead Tennessee’s offense to more success.

Guarantano didn’t throw a touchdown pass until his fifth start, and his first with interim head coach Brady Hoke. The redshirt freshman finally found the end zone through the air in a rain-soaked loss at home against LSU that eliminated the Vols from bowl eligibility. He found pay dirt twice in the season finale against Vanderbilt, but UT lost that game too, putting a close to the Vols’ worst season in school history. Guarantano’s only win as starting quarterback under Butch Jones was against Southern Miss.

Analysis

To wrap it all up, here’s a table showing all the stat lines of the quarterbacks detailed above along with Nico Iamaleava’s numbers so far this season. What do you think? How does Nico compare to other notable young starting quarterbacks at Tennessee over the last 30 years?