The No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers beat the Mississippi State Bulldogs, 33-14, this past Saturday. In Tennessee’s win, redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava missed the second half due to an upper-body injury.
On Monday, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel updated Iamaleava’s status for the top-10 matchup in Athens.
“He was with us today,” Heupel said. “Had a really good day. Feel like he’ll be in great shape for Saturday, but you guys can monitor the report that comes out on Wednesday, and track it through the week, but certainly feel like he’ll be in a good spot.”
Iamaleava’s status trending in the right direction, which is huge for the Vols. However, never underestimate how little coaches are willing to share in their press conference. Iamaleava has helped the Vols’ offense rank No. 3 in total offense and No. 4 in points in the SEC. Iamaleava has shown he can be steady: He has thrown only four interceptions this season.
Update: Iamaleava is reportedly in concussion protocol, but he has been dressing and practicing.
The SEC releases its weekly availability report on Wednesday night. If Iamaleava is unable to play, Tennessee is expected to turn to senior Gaston Moore, who completed five of eight passes for 38 yards against Mississippi State.
“That’s a dilemma because we don’t know a lot. I’m talking about his (Nico Iamaleava) injury,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “We don’t really know what’s going on there; it’s hard to figure. We do have – because they had those games earlier in the year where they beat teams so bad – Gaston got to play quite a bit.”