1. Nico Iamaleava
Yes, after struggling severely for weeks, Nico Iamaleava finally emerged, and he was the player of the game for Tennessee Football. As mentioned earlier, Kentucky tested him with that Cover 4 man defense, and there was still some inconsistent play at tackle, with John Campbell Jr. picking up a holding penalty early and Lance Heard missing a couple of blocks.
However, both tackles were much better as the game went on, and Iamaleava was able to step up in the process. He consistently moved the ball and finished the game 28-of-38 for 292 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions while carrying the ball for 14 yards. He had a total QBR of 78.
What’s crazy is he didn’t have a lot of help. Receivers made way too many mistakes. We mentioned the drop in the end zone by Kitselman. Well, Iamaleava had a touchdown pass to Chris Brazzell II that was perfectly thrown but Brazzell dropped in the end zone while trying to come down with it. Chas Nimrod also dropped a pass over the middle that he would have run for a score.
Taking all that into account, Iamaleava deserves a ton of credit for having the stat line he had. He forced defenses to respect him, and it could be a sign of things to come. After all, this follows what he did in the second half against the Alabama Crimson Tide. As a result, Tennessee Football fans should be excited.
