Joe Milton III on Nico Iamaleava: 'Nico is a baller, y'all know that'

When Nico Iamaleava came to the sideline during the third quarter against UConn Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium, fifth-year senior starter Joe Milton III acted as an extension of Josh Heupel for his freshman quarterback counterpart. 

Milton let Iamaleava know what he saw from the sideline, offering his input while Iamaleava got his first game reps since September.

“A couple of things that I saw,” Heupel said after Tennessee’s 59-3 Homecoming win, “Joe saw during the course of it. (It helps) him continue to grow. Joe’s got a great relationship with him, they help each other out, so it’s an opportunity for that.”

Both quarterbacks helped themselves on Saturday.

Milton completed 11 of 14 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score, helping lead Tennessee to a 35-3 halftime lead. He didn’t play in the second half, thanks to a defensive effort that made the score even more lopsided in the third quarter. 

Jaylen McCollough and Aaron Beasley had interceptions returned for touchdowns on back-to-back drives to make it 49-3 and pave the way for Iamaleava to get back on the field for the first time since the 45-14 win over UTSA on September 23.

Nico Iamaleava against UConn: 5-9, 86 yards passing, 1 TD, 25 yards rushing

Iamaleave completed 5 of 9 passes for 86 yards, throwing the first touchdown pass of his career on a 19-yarder to tight end McCallan Castles, and ran once for 25 yards. 

Milton afterward described the performance as “great.”

“Nico is a baller,” Milton said, “y’all know that.”

Milton has had his arm around Iamaleava since the five-star freshman got to campus back in December, in time for Tennessee’s bowl practices while preparing for Clemson in the Orange Bowl.  

The relationship has continued to grow through the spring, summer and now the fall with Milton as the starter and Iamaleava as one of the most talented backups in college football. 

That talent is only growing at Tennessee thanks to his practice habits.

“Every opportunity he gets,” Milton said, “he makes sure at practice that he treats all the opportunities as real, so when the game time does come, he will be ready for his moment. 

“Out there (against UConn), I felt like he did good. There are also things to learn from, but we will go over that.”

Up Next: No. 14 Tennessee at No. 16 Missouri, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS

Milton is making the most of his opportunity of late, having thrown for 752 yards and five touchdowns, to go with 92 rushing yards and a score on the ground, over his last three games. He completed 74.6% of his passes against Alabama, Kentucky and UConn without an interception, after throwing four picks over the previous four games.

“Quarterback position,” Heupel said, “you’ve got to be good enough to be able to overcome some deficiencies at times. Some of the guys around you, but at the same time you’ve got to have 10 other guys playing really well around you. It’s a unique combination of all of those things. 

“He’s had his eyes in the right spot, he’s been efficient with the football, he’s been accurate with the football. He’s been timely. His control on protections, run game and all of that, (he has done) extremely well. You put all of that together and that’s why he’s playing as efficiently as he was.”

It couldn’t come at a better time for No. 14 Tennessee (7-2, 3-2 SEC), with a trip to No 16 Missouri (7-2, 3-2) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, CBS) before hosting No. 1 Georgia in Knoxville on November 18.

“He is still a young starter within our system,” Heupel said of Milton. “He’s been here, and he’s had opportunities at the end of the games, but he is still new as a starter. There are a lot of new pieces and moving pieces around him, and good teams continue to grow and get better. 

“This team, I like the way they prepare, I like the way they practice. We have continued to grow. Because of that and his effort, he’s continued to grow too with the guys around him, so the efficiency the last few weeks has been pretty solid.”