Nico Iamaleava delivers a very unlikely present to the Tennessee Vols on their bye week

A helping hand came from the West Coast.

Craig Smith — College Football & NFL Trending News Writer
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The Tennessee Vols should be moving on up in the polls on Sunday, and they have an old friend to thank in part for that.

A trio of top 15 teams fell on Saturday before the evening kickoffs even arrived. Texas, Iowa State, and Penn State all lost on the road against unranked teams. And regarding the Nittany Lions, former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava played a very big hand in that.

QB Nico Iamaleava totaled 5 touchdowns in UCLA’s 42-37 upset of No.7 Penn State

Iamaleava and the Bruins limped into the game at 0-4 against the Nittany Lions at the Rose Bowl. The place where UCLA had lost to Utah 43-10 and to New Mexico 35-10 earlier in the season. Their other two games were road losses to UNLV and Northwestern. Head coach DeShaun Foster was dismissed last month.

But college football is a funny ol’ dog sometimes, and Iamaleava and the Bruins proved that to be true in a game that, on paper, seemed like they had absolutely no business competing in, much less winning.

The Bruins didn’t get that memo, as they jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter to take control of the game. It was the first minutes this season that they’ve even led in a game, having trailed or been tied the entirety of their four losses. By the time it was 27-7 at the half, the possibility of Iamaleava and the Bruins getting their first win at the expense of James Franklin and Penn State appeared to be a real one.

Drew Allar and the Penn State offense leapt to life in the third quarter, drawing back to within 27-21 quickly and putting pressure back on the Bruins.

But Iamaleava and the Bruins’ offense continued to lay waste to what has been, for years, a very tough and talented Penn State defense. Iamaleava bowled his way in for a one-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to push the lead to 34-21.

After Penn State struck again to make it 34-28 early in the fourth quarter, Iamaleava and the Bruins went on a nearly eight-minute drive to deliver the winning margin. Iamaleava scrambled right and found the corner of the end zone for a 42-28 lead. Penn State would score once more and get the ball back, but they were turned away on fourth and 2 with under a minute left.

Iamaleava finished with a stat line of 17-of-24 passing for 166 yards and two touchdowns, but he was dangerous on the ground with 16 carries for 128 yards and three rushing scores.

Love or hate Nico, Tennessee fans have to at least be glad to see him deliver something that helps the Big Orange out all the way from the West Coast.

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