Paul Finebaum takes an unfair and unnecessary shot at Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava
There are a lot of unfortunate things about the current era of college football and ESPN's Paul Finebaum is certainly at the top of that list. Finebaum, who is somehow one of the faces of college football media, is nothing more than a giant ball of negativity. The longtime sports talk show host spews negative […]
There are a lot of unfortunate things about the current era of college football and ESPN's Paul Finebaum is certainly at the top of that list.
Finebaum, who is somehow one of the faces of college football media, is nothing more than a giant ball of negativity. The longtime sports talk show host spews negative takes weekly, taking aim at whoever lost that week. When teams talk about meaningless outside noise, they're talking about people like Finebaum who are short on actual analysis but rich in hyperbole.
Paul Finebaum takes unfair and unnecessary shot at Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava
After the Tennessee Vols' 42-17 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday night, Finebaum took a weird shot at UT redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava and his "maturity level".
"I don't even know where to go with them (Tennessee) and I really don't care at this point," said Finebaum. "Because I think most reasonable football fans knew that they were going to struggle in that environment, just like they've struggled in every other environment this year, other than Vanderbilt where they had more fans. So that's just a flaw in the Tennessee system and the maturity level of Nico."
First off, Finebaum left out that Iamaleava led Tennessee to a win against Oklahoma in an emotional road game in Norman earlier this season. (That's something that Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe wasn't able to accomplish in 2024.)
But aside from that misstep from Finebaum, his comments about Iamaleava are totally out of line. In fact, I'm not even sure Finebaum watched the Tennessee vs Ohio State game, because if he did, he certainly wouldn't be questioning Iamaleava's maturity level.
Iamaleava was a dog on Saturday night against Ohio State. The California native dug deep and tried to do everything in his power to get the Vols back in the game after getting down 21-0 early. Iamaleava took numerous big hits — his helmet had to be replaced at one point after it was cracked due to a big hit — while trying to gain extra yards.
20 carries for 47 yards and a rushing touchdown while getting sacked four times and Finebaum wants to question Iamaleava's maturity?
That's complete nonsense. Get out of here with that, Paul. Iamaleava competed his tail off against the Buckeyes. He remained poised and composed despite the game going off the rails for the Vols. Iamaleava was calm in the face of adversity and he's the biggest reason why Tennessee was down by only 11 at halftime.
There's plenty to criticize about the Vols' performance against Ohio State, but Nico's maturity level isn't on that list. That's a horrendous take by Finebaum. College football deserves better than an almost 70-year-old man sitting in a warm makeshift studio taking shots at a 20-year-old that played his ass off in 20 degree weather. Be better, Finebaum.
