Greg McElroy raves about Tennessee’s potential under Nico Iamaleava, solid defense

Greg McElroy thinks Tennessee could be the complete package with Nico Iamaleava and a stout defense.

With a 2-0 start and being No. 7 in the AP Poll rankings, all eyes are on the Volunteers. Following a 51-10 win over a previously ranked NC State team, Tennessee raised a lot of eyebrows.

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As McElroy put it, Tennessee looks like a legit contender.

“Welcome back to the top of the sport Tennessee,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “Much of the conversation has surrounded improved play at quarterback. Nico Iamaleava is going to be awesome … But we also, at the same time, said, even though it wasn’t listened to quite as much, because it’s just, let’s just be honest, talking about defensive lines doesn’t move the needle the same way talking about a quarterback does … But this defense was every bit as good, if not better than significant praise that we heaped on him here in the offseason … 

“(NC State) is not void of talent, and yet they got destroyed, completely destroyed along the line of scrimmage. Do you realize that 57% of NC State’s rushing attempts were dropped for zero or negative yards? 57% 143 total yards, 2.9 yards per play, 28 carries for 39 yards. Their longest run given up was 15 yards. The Vols had three sacks, 13 tackles for loss, forced three turnovers, and those three turnovers led to 17 points. Their defense will win them a bunch of games this year.”

Yes, there are times Iamaleava looks impressive for Tennessee, but he hasn’t lit the world on fire, yet.

Tennessee set up with Nico Iamaleava, defense

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“In his first three starts, he tore up Iowa on the ground in his first start, in the bowl game,” McElroy said. “He had some really nice moments, I think, running the football in this game in particular, had a couple picks, including the pick six when he was hit when he threw. But still, he described the performance as quote, ‘okay.’ I thought he was a little bit better than okay. I mean, this is a guy that’s making his third career start … and there were moments in the game too that could have made the stat sheet maybe look a little better … 

“It was far from perfection, and I hope that’s what he’s striving for, because I think his skill set will allow for perfection to become a possibility. But for a young quarterback, it’s almost exactly what I’d like to see happen if he starts out too strong, for example, Iowa, week one against Tennessee-Chattanooga, NC State, and all of a sudden his first three games, he’s just absolutely lighting up the world, then maybe he rests on his laurels a little bit. You know? I hope that’s not the case, but I think it’s human nature.” 

Tennessee has all of the pieces, including at quarterback with Iamaleava. Now, if the improvement comes in the next couple of weeks, this could be one of the most dangerous teams in the country .

“So if I’m Tennessee, you have a super dynamic running back, you got really good weapons, your defense is off the charts good,” McElroy said. “Now the offense can just continue to pick up the slack just a little bit as they move along, and as the schedule strengthens. I feel great about where they’re at right now. Really excited. Tennessee fans, they should be pumped.”