KNOXVILLE — As ecstatic Tennessee fans stormed the field and started to surround him, Nico Iamaleava first shared huge hugs with family members to celebrate his biggest win as a college quarterback, 24-17 over No. 7 Alabama.
The joy was a payout after Tennessee’s well-heeled boosters committed to a widely-reported $8 million deal for Iamaleava, a moment that plenty have speculated was when college football forever changed in the new NIL era. It’s partly why Tennessee’s administration so fervently went on the offensive when the NCAA started investigating the program’s recruitment of him. Tennessee has been all-in on the lanky Californian for years.
A few hours earlier, though, and the idea of Tennessee fans surrounding Iamaleava might have felt dangerous and malicious following another disastrous first-half offensive start for the Volunteers — the first time since 1963 that Tennessee scored zero first-half points in three consecutive games. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel wouldn’t be born for another 15 years since Tennessee’s offense was that inept.
But after Iamaleava etched his most signature win to date, it was all smiles, back-pats and cigar smoke when fans discovered No. 11 Tennessee’s vaunted second-year quarterback mere feet away from them. They chanted, “Ni-co, Ni-co, Ni-co” as football staffers fought to get the 6-foot-6, 215-pound quarterback off the field and back to the locker room to celebrate with his teammates. Tennessee fans had been waiting for a moment like this, a display of the brilliance that made Iamaleava one of the nation’s most sought-after quarterbacks (No. 2 overall in the 2023 class) and the early face of the name, image and likeness world.
They didn’t get it in the first half.
Iamaleava had opportunities, including a wide-open Squirrel White on what would have been an easy touchdown, but struggled to capitalize. His accuracy was off early in the game, and while the defense did a superb job limiting Alabama’s potent offense, eventually Tennessee’s offense would have to come alive to win the game.
“I missed the shot to score,” Iamaleava said. “If I hit that, it gets our offense flowing and we’re feeling a whole different type of way. I gotta be better on that. But I’m proud of the way we bounced back.”
Iamaleava deserves credit himself. After he landed hard while trying to scramble and had to leave the game, it was easy to wonder if that might be the end of his day against the Crimson Tide. Instead, following backup Gaston Moore throwing an interception on his first pass in relief, Iamaleava returned to the field on the next offensive series.
“I think I needed that, he said. “It woke me up, for sure.”
Iamaleava made a bad decision inside Alabama’s redzone on an interception that he should have just thrown away. He has earned a reputation for being cautious to the point of being too conservative in his first year as Tennessee’s starting quarterback, and that was the wrong time to go against the grain. He left the field at halftime with an unsightly 6 of 14 for 99 yards and an interception statline.
It finally started clicking in the third quarter for Iamaleava. With running back Dylan Sampson really getting going on the ground to provide offensive balance, Iamaleava did enough to maintain the flow. He had a 27-yard run that put Tennessee inside Alabama’s 10-yard line. Two plays later, Sampson put the Vols’ first points on the board and tied it up at 7-7.
On the next offensive series, Iamaleava improvised for his biggest gain of the day. Not getting the look he wanted on a crucial 3rd-and-6 play, he rolled out and found receiver Dont’e Thornton with a winnable one-on-one matchup and connected for a 55-yard gain. That effortless, on-the-money flick of a wrist from Iamaleava was what Tennessee needed in the first half and what it’d need to hold off Alabama for a comeback win.
“It’s mental toughness,” Heupel said about his young QB’s resolve. “When it matters the most, how do you perform and how do you control the game? And there’s a lot of things, just physical, mental toughness that I really liked tonight.”
When it mattered most, Iamaleava delivered. Down 17-14 with the ball on Alabama’s 16-yard line, the young Tennessee quarterback threw a pass in the tightest of windows to receiver Chris Brazzell for a diving catch and go-ahead touchdown that would ultimately win the Vols the game.
That throw is why Tennessee fans couldn’t get enough of Iamaleava in a smoky and joyous October Saturday night in Neyland Stadium. If Tennessee can get more of that second-half confident version of Iamaleava coupled with arguably the nation’s best defense, the Volunteers have a real shot to make a postseason run.
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