Josh Heupel on Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava: 'Feel like he'll be in great shape' for Georgia game

Nico Iamaleava was with the Tennessee Football team on Monday and “had a really good day,” according to head coach Josh Heupel. Iamaleava didn’t play in the second half of the 33-14 win over Mississippi State after being ruled out at halftime.

“He was with us today,” Heupel said during his weekly press conference on Monday. “Had a really good day. Feel like he’ll be in in great shape for Saturday. But you guys can monitor the whatever the report is that comes out on Wednesday and and track it through the week. But certainly feel like he’ll be in a good spot.”

SEC-mandated injury reports are released on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday ahead of conference games. A final injury report is issued on Saturdays, approximately 90 minutes before kickoff.

No. 6 Tennessee at No. 11 Georgia, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC

Tennessee (8-1, 5-1 SEC) goes on the road next week facing No. 2 Georgia (7-2, 5-2) at Sanford Stadium in Athens, a 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time start on ABC. The game should have major College Football Playoff implications after Georgia lost 28-10 at Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon.

Heupel said Saturday night after the win over Mississippi State that he anticipated having Iamaleava “ready for next week” after he was ruled out at halftime as a “precautionary measure.”

“Feel like we’ll be ready to roll Saturday,” Heupel said during his postgame press conference.

Gaston Moore replaced Iamaleava, finishing the game 5-for-8 for 38 yards while leading Tennessee on three scoring drives in the second half.

The Vols also lost Dont’e Thornton to what the ESPN game broadcast described as an upper-body injury in the second half. Starting right guard Andrej Karic also left the game with an injury.

“Yeah, I feel like Dont’e will be ready to go on this one too,” Heupel said on Monday, “but you can find through the injury report. It starts on Wednesday.”

Thornton caught three passes for 104 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown, before leaving with the unknown injury. Dylan Sampson left the game briefly after appearing to hurt his lower left leg late in the first half, but returned after missing one series to start the second half.

Nico Iamaleava injured late in first half against Mississippi State

ESPN reported Iamaleava’s injury was suffered when he ran left for seven yards on second-and-11 at the Mississippi State 13-yard line, just before a 24-yard Max Gilbert field goal. Video showed Iamaleava appearing to be shaken up after taking another shot on the final drive of the first half, after rolling right and getting hit after passing.

Iamaleava completed 8 of 13 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. He ran four times for 22 yards. 

Thornton caught the 73-yard touchdown pass from Iamaleava to give Tennessee a 14-0 lead with 13:35 left in the second quarter. Iamaleava threw a 34-yard touchdown to Squirrel White caught on Tennessee’s opening drive of the game, giving the Vols a 7-0 lead on fourth-and-3. 

Iamaleava entered Saturday night’s game with 1,705 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions through eight games. He had completed 136 of 208 passes on the season. 

He had 292 yards and a touchdown in the 28-18 win over Kentucky last week at Neyland Stadium and 194 and a touchdown against Alabama in the 24-17 win on October 19. Iamaleava briefly left the Alabama game with an injury but returned after missing just one play.

Iamaleava set a new Tennessee program record with 314 yards in the first half against Chattanooga on August 31, throwing three touchdowns in his first home start with the Vols on the way to a 69-3 win.