Steve Spurrier tries to pour cold water over the Nico Iamaleava hype ahead of Vols' clash with Gators
The Tennessee Volunteers fell flat against the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday night in Fayetteville, losing late 19-14. That loss, coupled with a 24-13 win by Florida over UCF, has increased the belief by former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier – who never misses taking a shot at Tennessee – that the Gators can go to […]
The Tennessee Volunteers fell flat against the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday night in Fayetteville, losing late 19-14.
That loss, coupled with a 24-13 win by Florida over UCF, has increased the belief by former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier – who never misses taking a shot at Tennessee – that the Gators can go to Knoxville on Saturday and defeat the Vols.
Spurrier joined the Another Dooley Noted Podcast on Monday hosted by former Florida beat writer Pat Dooley, and he sees a path for victory for the Gators on Saturday after the events of last weekend.
"We had a good weekend. The Gators really played well. I think our energy and our fight, and all that kind of stuff, was the best I've seen this year by far. Defense really won the game for us. Offense played well the first half. Didn't get much the second half. But the defense came to play, so that was encouraging.
"Now that Tennessee lost to Arkansas, now we can go up there with a little different expectation."
Spurrier, who won the Heisman Trophy at Florida as a quarterback, had a particularly critical view of Tennessee redshirt freshman Nico Iamaleava, especially over the last two weeks against Oklahoma and Arkansas.
"He did not have a really good day. He looks right at his receiver, it looks like all the time, and maybe takes off running. And Arkansas did not let him run very much. And then he didn't do all that much against Oklahoma.
"Tennessee has played extremely well against the down the line teams, but the two SEC guys have stopped him fairly much, their offense. But the Tennessee defense stymied Oklahoma pretty good. And, really, Arkansas didn't do much against Tennessee."
I don't think the criticism of Iamaleava alone is warranted. Let's face the facts. Tennessee's offensive line, particularly in pass protection, has flat-out stunk the last two weeks. Seven sacks allowed the last two weeks combined and many more pressures. Lance Heard and John Campbell, Jr. didn't end up providing all that much relief last week in their returns from injury.
And the Vols' receivers aren't particularly doing their part right now either. Separation down the field hasn't been great and was evident on Saturday night. Tennessee has to get more from their veteran WR group to help out their young quarterback. Because when they do, Nico has shown he can make those big throws, which he did against Oklahoma that ultimately helped put the game out of reach in the third quarter.
So, to that degree, Spurrier's comments aren't all that well founded over the last two games. However, it's also impossible to deny Iamaleava struggled significantly against Arkansas, looking indecisive and being off with some throws.
Still, the Vols' starter has half a dozen starts under his belt. The struggles were always going to come.
But the Gators would be foolish to underestimate the Vols' talented quarterback on Saturday afternoon. Florida hasn't proven itself to be much more than a "down the line" team itself this season. And we know what Nico has done in those games.
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