ESPN: Tennessee 'didn't look any worse off' without Nico Iamaleava
ESPN’s one takeaway from Tennessee Football’s 45-26 over Syracuse Saturday afternoon in Atlanta is the same one that many Tennessee fans were talking about late Saturday night.
The Vols don’t seem to be hurting at quarterback after swapping Nico Iamaleava for Joey Aguilar in the NCAA Transfer Portal back in April.
“Tennessee’s offense certainly didn’t look any worse off after waving goodbye to Nico Iamaleava,” ESPN’s David Hail wrote Sunday morning. “Transfer Joey Aguilar threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-26 win over Syracuse.”
All Aguilar did in his debut for Tennessee (1-0) was throw for 247 yards and three touchdowns and rush for 34 more yards.
“Just a new chapter,” Aguilar said after the game. “Everybody got a step in their chapter and in their life. This is the next one. My transfer from App State to UCLA to now is just another chapter in my life. Coming out here and representing (Tennessee), just grateful and happy for the win.
“A lot of things to work on,” Aguilar added, “a lot of things to clean up. We’re going to enjoy this, go and watch film and get better.”
Up Next: Tennessee vs. ETSU, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET
Iamaleava’s UCLA debut was a 43-10 home loss to Utah late Saturday night. He completed 11 of 22 passes for 136 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He rushed for a team-high 47 yards, but was sacked four times and pressured 10 times.
UCLA, which trailed 23-7 at halftime, had just 220 yards of total offense, went 2-for-11 on third down and had 14 first downs. Utah had 493 total yards and 30 first downs.
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Iamaleava transferred from Tennessee to UCLA in April after a messy, public breakup with the Vols that centered on the inability for the two sides to come to terms on a new NIL deal.
Iamaleava threw for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions in 13 games last season at Tennessee, is only season as the starter for the Vols.
His transfer to UCLA forced Aguilar to go back into the NCAA Transfer Portal after Aguilar, a native of Antioch, Calif., had transferred from Appalachian State to UCLA in December.
‘We only focus about who’s in the building and the team we got’
Aguilar ended up replacing Iamaleava with the Vols, transferring to Tennessee in April, arriving in May and winning the starting quarterback job during fall camp.
Whatever is being said about Aguilar’s fit, or has been said since Iamaleava’s departure, isn’t about to change how Aguilar and the Vols operate.
“All the outside noise is jut rat poison,” Aguilar said. “We only focus about who’s in the building and the team we got. We got to go back, execute, dial in on everything we got.”
