Alabama preparing to face 'very lengthy' Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will face Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava for the first time this weekend when the Crimson Tide travels to Knoxville for its annual rivalry game.

Iamaleava is in his first season as the Volunteers’ starter and has thrown for 1,219 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions while completing 65.7 percent of his passes. He’s also third on the team in rushing with 135 yards and one touchdown on 44 rushing attempts.

Iamaleava can hurt team in multiple ways, but his arm stands out in Alabama’s film study.

“I think he’s got a live arm, extremely talented,” said Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer. “You can tell that they’ve got the skill on the outside to where they can hit the home run and make big plays anytime. I think a lot of it is just trying to disrupt him to where the continuity and the flow is just not consistent, and that’s gonna be any quarterback. Every week, that’s the goal is try to just really cause some chaos and change things up on them.

“They get into their tempo off of positive plays, and that’s the key is try to make sure that they don’t get into that rhythm, just like any offense, that’s what you’re trying to do. He’s talented. You can see it’s there. He’s still, I think, growing and developing, and we’ve just gotta make sure we disrupt him enough and make sure we’re showing pictures and also getting bodies on bodies on the outside to where we make life hard like we would want to any other opponent.”

Iamaleava took over the starting job this offseason after Joe Milton entered the NFL draft. The No. 6 overall recruit in the 2023 class, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, Iamaleava had his best game to begin the season when he threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns against Chattanooga. Since then, he’s had one game of 200-plus yards.

Against SEC competition, Iamaleava has one thrown one touchdown pass (Oklahoma) and is averaging 60.5 percent on his pass attempts against the Sooners, Arkansas and Florida.

Alabama’s pass defense ranks eighth in the conference, allowing 213.3 yards per game, and Iamaleava has the ability to hit a home run at any given time. He ranks fourth in the SEC in pass plays of 40-plus yards (6) and fifth in pass plays of 50 or more yards (3) this fall.

“He’s a great, young quarterback,” said Alabama defensive back Malachi Moore. “He does a great job of getting the ball to his playmakers, and he has a lot of velocity on the ball. He can throw the ball 70 yards through the air. I think he did that last week against Florida. 

“And he’s really a guy that knows their offense. … They have more outlets for Nico because he is great at escaping the pocket and making plays downfield.”

Applying pressure on Iamaleava will be important this week. Alabama is seventh in the league in sacks with 14, while Tennessee ranks 10th in sacks allowed (13). Tennessee lists the redshirt freshman quarterback at 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, and its shows, per one UA veteran.

“Very lengthy,” said Alabama defensive lineman Tim Smith. “He has many talents. He can run and get the ball out as far as scrambling out of the pocket. Just making sure we can keep him in there and make him uncomfortable in every situation we can.”

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