Tennessee coach Josh Heupel knew what was coming.
“We might be on the subject for a while,” the Vols’ head man said during a press conference on Wednesday when he was continually asked about his star pupil, quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who has seemingly gone from the underclassmen trash heap to the king of Knoxville following his performance against Alabama in a 24-17 win over the Crimson Tide.
“I think it’s tough when you play that position and that’s whether you’re young or you’ve played a lot of football,” Heupel said. “But certainly when you’re young, when things aren’t going well, you can hear certain members of the crowd and you know you’ve made some mistakes, which happens in this game when you play that position.”
Iamaleava, obviously, has more pressure on him for a number of reasons. He’s the poster child of NIL funding changing a team’s trajectory, has probably been over hyped heading into his first season as a full-time starter and, well, plays the most difficult position in sports, quarterback.
“You’ve got the ball in your hand every time you’ve missed some throws,” Heupel said. “You’ve turned it over. You haven’t moved the ball, whatever it is. The quarterback takes ownership of all of that and when it’s not going well, I describe it as it feels like the walls are kind of pressing in on you.
“To have the courage, the strength, the fortitude to push back on it and go play really good football. Not perfect, but really good football and find a way to to come away with the win. You got to be a tough, tough dude mentally and physically to withstand all that. It’s one of the real positives that you take away from the game.”
Iamaleava has beaten Florida and Alabama in the last two weeks, but the redshirt freshman certainly hasn’t been perfect. Iamaleava has missed open receivers, especially downfield, even as he’s shown improvement. Sure, the opposing defense has dictated where Iamaleava throws the ball, but his fundamentals have also caused some passes to sail awry.
“There’s times that you’re not going to be in a perfect position,” Heupel said. “You got to find a way to complete it. There’s a couple of things just with his eyes leading to where he’s at, body position wise on a couple of those things.
“Made some really nice throws, too. You look at some of the big plays, Dont’e (Thornton) down the sideline, that’s a special throw on the run to be able to complete. Chris (Brazzell) in the end zone on the third down (was also a big play). Some things that he’s got to continue to grow in, but that’s all a part of continuing to grow as a player.”
Heupel, of course, knows quarterbacking. He was a standout quarterback for Oklahoma before coaching the position for over two decades. As for any advice he’d have from signal caller to signal caller?
“Man, it’s a position that’s never going to be perfect,” Heupel said. “Ultimately, quarterbacks get judged on wins and losses no matter what. It’s looking like being able to to go lay it on the line, play aggressive, play the next play. Those are the the biggest things that we continue to talk about with him and, you know, really proud of what he did in the second half against Alabama.”
With a bye week this week, Heupel can continue to be proud – just as long as Iamaleava continues to improve and be ready for Kentucky next week. With five games left in the season and a possible College Football Playoff bid on the line, Iamaleava won’t ultimately be judged on the second half against Alabama. He’ll be defined on what happens the remainder of the season.
