Nico Iamalaeava had an easy and quick outing as No. 9 Tennessee rolled over Kent State on Saturday.
He led the Vols on seven consecutive scoring drives to start the game.
UT led Kent State 37-0 through the first quarter, setting a school record for scoring in a single quarter. Iamaleava left the game in the second quarter with the Vols leading 51-0
Here’s a quick rundown of Iamaleava’s abbreviated performance against Kent State.
Nico Iamaleava’s stats
Iamaleava was 10-of-16 passing for 173 yards, one TD and no interceptions against Kent State. He also rushed for 31 yards.
Through three games in the 2024 season, Iamaleava has completed 72% of his passes for 698 yards, six TDs and two interceptions. He hasn’t played close to a full game because the Vols have won in blowouts.
Nico’s best: Dropping a dime on long TD toss
It’s starting to sound like a broken record, but Iamaleava threw a picture-perfect deep pass to Chris Brazzell for a 53-yard TD in the first quarter. His anticipation was just as good as the throw.
Brazzell, a Tulane transfer, ran a go-route down the right sideline. The Kent State cornerback back-pedaled and appeared to be in position to cover Brazzell.
But the cornerback didn’t flip his hips to turn and run with Brazzell. So Iamaleava tossed a pass ahead of Brazzell and hit him in stride at the goal line.
Nico’s worst: Minor misfires and not sliding
Iamaleava threw a pass slightly behind Squirrel White on UT’s opening drive. He was off target on a pass to Bru McCoy on a scramble in the second quarter, and his short pass to Kaleb Webb on the next play was high. Another bad throw to McCoy was short later in the second.
Iamaleava also needs to slide when he scrambles, especially in blowout wins. But he fortunately avoided injuries.
Grade: A-
Granted, it was against inferior competition. Kent State is probably the worst team in FBS.
But there are no gimmes in college football, even when the matchup is this lopsided.
Recall UT’s first game under Josh Heupel in 2021, when Joe Milton misfired several passes in a 38-6 win over Bowling Green, also a Mid-American Conference team.
Iamaleava was very accurate on short passes, hit or miss on intermediate passes and on target for that deep pass to Brazzell for a TD. The decisions he made in the run game helped the Vols rush for 230 yards with him at quarterback.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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Publish date : 2024-09-19 21:08:00
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