Josh Heupel addresses growth of Nico Iamaleava, room for improvement

Tennessee is 6-1 with Nico Iamaleava under center in his first full season as QB1 in Knoxville, and the Vols are right in the mix for a College Football Playoff berth, as well as a SEC Championship game appearance through eight weeks.

Vols head coach Josh Heupel praised Iamaleava, a redshirt freshman, for how he’s handled the immense pressure as a starting quarterback at a major SEC program.

“I think it’s tough when you play that position,” Heupel said of his young quarterback. “That’s whether you’re young or you’ve played a lot of football, but certainly when you’re young. When things aren’t going well, you can hear certain members of the crowd. … You’ve turned it over, you haven’t moved the ball, whatever it is. The quarterback takes ownership of all of that.

“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, find a way 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 with Nico.”

Heupel said there was little to pick at over Iamaleava’s performance during the 24-17 win over the Crimson Tide.

While his numbers don’t pop out (14 of 27, 194 yards, TD, INT) on the stat sheet, it was enough to get the job done. Sure, Iamaleava missed a few throws in tight windows, might not have reacted quick enough in certain situations or didn’t put himself in the right position to make a certain throw. But it got the job done, and Heupel believes those things will iron out with due time.

“There’s a couple things just with his eyes, leading to where he is at body position on a couple of those things,” Heupel continued. “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. So some things that he’s got to continue grow in, but that’s all a part of continuing to grow a little bit.” 

Tennessee will be idle in Week 9, enjoying its second bye week of the season before turning around to host Kentucky in Week 10. Iamaleava will look to turn in a big-time performance against the Wildcats, a series the Vols have historically dominated.