Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava had a Patrick Mahomes-like moment against Kentucky and it should greatly excite Vols fans
Tennessee Vols redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava had a great performance in UT's 28-18 win against the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday night. Iamaleava completed 28 of 38 passes for 292 yards and a touchdown. He could've had four touchdowns and more passing yards but three touchdowns were dropped by receivers. It was the best that […]
Tennessee Vols redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava had a great performance in UT's 28-18 win against the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday night.
Iamaleava completed 28 of 38 passes for 292 yards and a touchdown. He could've had four touchdowns and more passing yards but three touchdowns were dropped by receivers. It was the best that Iamaleava's looked in his young career.
One particular play, Iamaleava's only touchdown of the night, showed why the California native was ranked as the No. 1 player in the 2023 recruiting class.
In the third quarter, with the Vols clinging to a four point lead, Iamaleava improvised on a play that was well defended by Kentucky. Iamaleava scrambled to his right and, while being pursued by a Wildcats defender, found tight end Miles Kitselman in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.
Those are the types of plays that have made Patrick Mahomes a superstar quarterback in the NFL.
That play was designed to go to tight end Holden Staes in the flat, but Kentucky had it well defended. Iamaleava was able to quickly scan the field and find Kitselman, who wasn't even supposed to be running a route on that play, in the back of the end zone. Iamaleava then delivered a perfect throw across his body.
"It was a slip that was supposed to go to Holden Staes to the flat," said Iamaleava after the game when asked about the play. "And me and Miles kinda just improvised. He wasn’t supposed to be on a route right there, but I seen him open up and he made a great play.”
Kitselman told reporters after the game that the play is made for man coverage, but Kentucky was in zone coverage.
"That play that I ended up scoring on was kind of a pick/slip play," said Kistelman. "It's made for a man coverage. Holden is slipping across the formation and I'm supposed to track who's running with him. I push up to track and obviously it's zone so nobody is running with him. We had never really repped [the play] against zone….just turning around and me and Nico locking eyes and you're out in space and he throws the ball up. That's just the kind of player that Nico is — not freaking out or anything like that. And luckily enough I just happened to turn around."
Vols head coach Josh Heupel called the touchdown a "big time play" by Iamaleava.
As Iamaleava becomes more comfortable and continues to gain experience, we should start seeing more and more dynamic plays like that.
Fans are starting to see why Iamaleava was such a highly coveted player coming out of high school.
