Tennessee will play Kent State on Saturday and, in most cases, you should be worried about a young quarterback getting off to a hot start this season and overlooking a lowly opponent like the Golden Flashes. Don’t fret about Nico Iamaleava.
I’ve seen all I need to see from Iamaleava when it comes to maturity after how he’s managed himself during his previous three starts, against Iowa in the Citrus Bowl and in blowout wins against Chattanooga and North Carolina State to begin this season.
Here’s an example. You may have seen this social media post, but it bears further examination:
If you notice from the above clip, Iamaleava “dabs” up the North Carolina State player, which is good sportsmanship. However, the gesture really tells me something different about Iamaleava. His body language, then and in every other instance, tells me he’s not just a redshirt freshman, that things happen slower for him than most and he’s elite right now. Yes, right now.
That body language was evident when former Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton was injured against Texas-San Antonio in September. Milton tweaked his knee and didn’t miss a real-time snap, but there was Iamaleava, engaged and ready to go with his offensive teammates in a sideline huddle. Freshman or not, he was ready.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel should have pulled the trigger at some point last season and replaced Milton with Iamaleava, who arguably should have started the season all together, but that never happened. However, we can debate that at another time.
The fact is Iamaleava is so poised that he knows the big picture. After a blowout win against Chattanooga, he said he needed to “keep our foot on their throat” when the Vols struggled a bit in the final two minutes of the first half. After an interception against North Carolina State and another that was arguably not his fault, Iamaleava was as cool as a frozen cucumber in leading the Vols to another blowout win against the Wolfpack.
We can talk about Iamaleava’s quick release, strong arm and mobility all day. However, Milton had similar – and perhaps better – physical traits, but the game never slowed down for him. In fact, Tennessee had to slow its offense down for Milton, who looked as calm as a cat after an energy drink.
How much does that body language mean when you evaluate Iamaleava? Perhaps more than you think. Just ask former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, who is an analyst for ESPN and hosts the “Snaps” podcast.
“It’s huge,” Murray said on Off The Hook Sports when asked about Iamaleava. “…If you’re afraid to make a mistake at quarterback, as a quarterback, you’re never going to be successful. I see a quarterback that is confident in the system, a quarterback that is confident with his abilities. Right now he’s letting it rip, which you’re going to get some pretty amazing plays.”
Murray said he’s seen Iamaleava make throws that NFL quarterbacks can’t make. That’s saying something considering Murray played four seasons in the NFL after playing quarterback at Georgia from 2009 to 2013. Why is Murray confident that Iamaleava will be a star? Sure, some of that is physical ability, but Iamaleava’s belief in himself is often an overlooked factor.
“You have to have the confidence to let it rip because if you second guess yourself, that’s when you start making mistakes,” Murray said. “But on the other side, when you do have a guy that is throwing with anticipation, a guy that is playing with confidence, he is going to make mistakes at times.
“You cannot take away the aggression from Nico, though. He’s an aggressive-style quarterback because he trusts his arm. He trusts his system and you trust his receivers.”
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel obviously trusts Iamaleava. After the interception against the Wolfpack, he put the game right back on his redshirt freshman quarterback. Iamaleava responded with a perfect 45-yard completion to Squirrel White that set up a field goal. That was a gutsy call for a quarterback that had just thrown an interception on his previous pass. Iamaleava didn’t flinch.
“For a guy to make a mistake like that, being aggressive and then say, ‘I’m going to come back out and continue to be aggressive and then hit Squirrel right down the sideline with an absolute pearl of a football, (that) showed me everything I need to know about what he has on the inside to be able to go forward and play Oklahoma on the road, to play Alabama, to play Georgia as well later on the season,” Murray said.
And in what will surely be a blowout win against Kent State that Iamaleava will not overlook.
