Honestly, the injury situation was favoring Tennessee football before the Vols’ quarterback was cleared to play. After all, Georgia Bulldogs running back Trevor Etienne is out, and they are severely banged up on the offensive line going up against an elite UT defensive line.
However, it is significantly in UT’s favor now. After both were listed as questionable on the Wednesday injury report, Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava and Dont’e Thornton were not on the Friday injury report. As a result, both will be good to go when they visit the Dawgs Saturday.
Iamaleava and Thornton both left the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs as Tennessee Football held on to win the game 33-14 in the second half last Saturday. The two connected for a touchdown in the first half and appeared to be en route to a blowout.
Obviously, the injury to Iamaleava was the standout, as he left the game with a concussion in the first half and also appeared to have a shoulder injury, not returning in the second half. Gaston Moore finished the game, and the Vols had to play conservative to get out of there with a win.
Now, with both playing, an already baked-in advantage for Tennessee Football is even more clear. The Vols have the edge in the trenches, UGA quarterback Carson Beck has been a disaster the past two weeks, and Dylan Sampson should help them win the run game with Etienne out.
Taking that into account, there’s a legitimate argument that UT should not only not be two-score underdogs in this game, as they are, but actually be favored. After all, the way UGA played last week against the Ole Miss Rebels was a bad look, and returning home can’t make that much of a difference.
It was going to take big plays to beat Georgia as well, though, and that’s where Iamaleava and Thornton come in. The only real question is if Iamaleava truly did hurt his shoulder along with suffering a concussion, as that could hurt his throwing ability, which could in turn hurt Tennessee football.
