A closer look at Gaston Moore, Tennessee's new backup quarterback
Josh Heupel and his Tennessee coaching staff knew where Joe Milton III was headed early on in the lead up to the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.
“We knew that there was a process that he was going go through,” Heupel said this week, describing the situation at quarterback for the Vols as they prepared to face Iowa on New Year’s Day at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
Milton announced on Wednesday that he was opting out of the bowl game, declaring for the 2024 NFL Draft and making way for five-star freshman Nico Iamaleava to make his first career start for Tennessee.
“As we got into to game week,” Heupel continued, “and when I say game week, the preparation post (National) Signing Day (on December 20) or really right before it as we got into game-planning mode, Nico’s gotten a majority of the reps.”
Iamaleava has been the backup quarterback since he arrived in Knoxville, playing only sparingly in lopsided wins after Milton handled the majority of the game.
In four games Iamaleava completed 16 of 26 pass attempts for 163 yards and a touchdown. He rushed four times for 48 yards. But now that he has moved into the starting role, the backup position now goes to redshirt junior walk-on Gaston Moore.
Gaston Moore transferred to Tennessee from UCF after Josh Heupel was hired by Vols
Moore, a 6-foot-2, 206-pound product of Hilton Head High School in Hilton Head, S.C. — he threw for 2,016 yards and 20 touchdowns, against four interceptions as a senior in 2019 — followed Heupel from Central Florida to Tennessee, transferring after the 2020 season.
He sat out as a redshirt as a freshman at UCF in 2020 and played in one game as a redshirt freshman at Tennessee, going 2-for-2 for six yards against South Florida.
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Moore played in three games as a redshirt sophomore in 2022, going 4-for-5 for 30 yards after completing passes at Vanderbilt and home games against UT Martin and Ball State.
It was the same schedule this season. He played late in the 49-13 season-opening win over Virginia, made another appearance in the 59-3 Homecoming win over UConn in November and then again against Vanderbilt in the regular-season finale.
No. 21 Tennessee vs. No. 17 Iowa, Citrus Bowl, Monday, 1 p.m. ET, ABC
Moore’s most extensive action was on April 15 in the Orange & White Game at Neyland Stadium. He completed 6 of 8 passes for 94 yards with a touchdown and an interception while rotating with Milton and Iamaleava.
Behind Iamaleava and Moore, Tennessee’s two other quarterbacks on roster are redshirt junior walk-on Navy Shuler, the son of former Tennessee quarterback Heath Shuler, and freshman walk-on Ryan Damron.
After practice on Wednesday, while most of the attention circled around Iamaleava, Heupel sounded confident in his new second-string quarterback, should be forced onto the field.
“He’s functioned well during the course of the season, during spring ball, during training camp,” Heupel said. “He’s handled ball preparation extremely well. He’s got really good command of what we’re doing.”
