Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava's comments after loss to Ohio State should have Vols fans feeling optimistic about 2025 season
The Tennessee Vols' 2024 season ended with bitter disappointment thanks to a rough showing against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Tennessee fell 42-17 to the Buckeyes in Columbus on Saturday night in a game that was dominated by Ohio State from start to finish. After the loss, […]
The Tennessee Vols' 2024 season ended with bitter disappointment thanks to a rough showing against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
Tennessee fell 42-17 to the Buckeyes in Columbus on Saturday night in a game that was dominated by Ohio State from start to finish.
After the loss, Vols redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who led UT to a 10 win season in his first year as a starter, spoke with reporters and he made some comments that should have Tennessee fans feeling optimistic about the 2025 season.
The California native told reporters that the Vols are going to use the blowout loss to Ohio State as "motivation" for next season.
"I think just use this as motivation," said Iamaleava when asked what Tennessee can take away from the loss. "We've been putting in work since January to get to this point. And it sucks to go out that way, because that's not who we are. I love this team, I love the team we have. Just the way tonight went was not the way we wanted it to go, and we'll use that as fuel and motivation during this offseason to really hit it."
There's no doubt that the 25-point loss to the Buckeyes stings badly for Tennessee's coaches, players, and the entire Vols fan base (especially the passionate and loyal fans that made the trip to Columbus).
But as competitors, the Vols have to turn the page. There's no changing what happened in Columbus. Tennessee has to learn from it and find a way to use it as a positive. And one way to do that is to use the loss as motivation this offseason.
A motivated team is a dangerous team. And while the Vols were certainly motivated in 2024, they should be even more motivated to make a deep postseason run in 2025 after the rough loss to Ohio State.
