Tennessee Volunteers starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava is questionable to play against the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday. Iamaleava is a critical piece of Tennessee’s offense.
Iamaleava suffered a concussion and was unable to play in the second half of Tennessee’s 33-14 win over Mississippi State last week. Iamaleava has been in concussion protocol since the Mississippi State game, but he has continued to progress throughout the week. Iamaleava is traveling with Tennessee.
247Sports’ Matt Zenitz reports that that Iamaleava is likely to play against Georgia, but not guaranteed to play. ESPN’s Chris Low reports that Iamaleava will be playing against Georgia.
If Iamaleava can play, then that would be a big boost for the Tennessee offense. Iamaleava has completed 65.2% of his passes for 1,879 yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions this season. He also has 64 rushes for 215 yards and one touchdown.
Regardless of Iamaleava’s status, a key thing to watch will be if Tennessee quarterbacks can hit deep plays against the Georgia secondary. The Volunteers had numerous receivers open deep a few weeks against Alabama, but Iamaleava missed them more often than not.
Tennessee’s other quarterback option
Tennessee senior quarterback Gaston Moore is expected to start if Nico Iamaleava is unable to play. Moore has played at Tennessee since 2021, so he has plenty of experience in the Volunteers’ system. However, he has just 42 career passing attempts.
Moore has completed 16 of 25 passes for 201 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions this season. He completed just five of eight passes for 38 yards against Mississippi State.