Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava has yet to throw an interception. That’s the good news. As for the bad news, he’s eventually going to give the ball to the other team. So what happens then?
Everything went smoothly for Iamaleava when Iowa was little more than a speed bump in the Citrus Bowl as the Vols coasted to a 35-0 win. Iamaleava completed 12-of-19 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 27 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. However, the Hawkeyes weren’t a true test, partly, because there was no danger that their offense could keep up with the Vols’ offense even on their worst day.
Iamaleava’s worst day is almost certainly still coming. No matter how good a player is, there will be games in which things don’t go as one might have wished. There have been plenty of quarterbacks wilt once things go south and get more challenging, which is certain to happen this season. Playing Georgia with a championship on the line isn’t like playing Iowa in a mostly meaningless bowl game. So what happens when things go wrong? Why will Iamaleava rise above?
“The biggest thing is he’s been raised right,” Tennessee center Cooper Mays said. “…It seems like he is where his feet are, like he doesn’t seem to care about the outside noise and it doesn’t really register with him. That’s the best thing that could happen.”
Avoiding all the hype can’t be easy. An entire city, state and fan base seem to be riding on Iamaleava’s shoulders. Mays said Iamaleava shouldn’t pay any attention to all that.
“You don’t want to read about if it’s good or bad, like it’s not real,” Mays said of media coverage. “I’ve told him… what’s real is when you go out there on Saturday and you put the ball down on the field. That’s real. Nothing anybody says outside of the building, it doesn’t matter.”
Mays isn’t suddenly blown away by Iamaleava. None of his teammates are. While the Californian may have not had the experience or size last season to get on the field over starter Joe Milton, no one is taken aback by Iamaleava’s professional approach, which now includes a filled-out frame.
“He’s the same car,” Mays said, using an automotive analogy. “You know, he might have new rims, but he’s the same car at the end of the day. He’s trusty and reliable and he’s just the same guy every day. I can respect that. Everybody changes a little bit, but they don’t change a lot.”
While Iamaleava hasn’t thrown an interception in a game, he’s certainly thrown a few in practice. After all, he’s still young, still apt to make mistakes and still probably likes to test his arm strength to get the ball in a tight window from time to time. Losing on a play, however, certainly doesn’t mean all is lost.
“I see NFL players lose all the time,” Mays said. “They’re (opposing) players, at the end of the day, that are getting free college and free food to play football at a high level and then you got NIL. So, there’s there’s more incentive there. Players are going to make good plays…practice shouldn’t be easy.”
If Iamaleava is as mature as Tennessee’s coaches and players have indicated, bouncing back from a mistake won’t be hard for him. In fact, there will be some Saturdays this fall that make practice look downright difficult. The Vols open the season on Aug. 31 against Chattanooga.
