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Nico Iamaleava status: CFB insiders share latest on Tennessee QB’s significant injury
By Andrew Olson
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Nico Iamaleava had an early exit in Tennessee’s Week 11 win over Mississippi State due to injury. As the Vols gear up for a highly anticipated ranked showdown with Georgia, all eyes are on the status of the UT quarterback.
College football insider Pete Tamel of ESPN reported Tuesday that Iamaleava is in concussion protocol. Per Thamel, Iamaleava practiced Tuesday and his status has not yet been determined for Saturday.
Sources: Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava is in concussion protocol after leaving the Mississippi State game last week with an injury and not returning to the sideline for the second half. He did dress and practice on Tuesday, and his status for the Georgia is undetermined.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 13, 2024
Chris “The Bear” Fallica, meanwhile, casts significant doubt on Iamaleava being able to play. The FOX Sports analyst told Rivals’ UGA Sports that he has heard Iamaleava is dealing with a “bad concussion” and will not play against the Bulldogs. Fallica did not rule out that his intel on the matter could be wrong.
“… I don’t know what you have heard about Nico Iamaleava playing this week. I have heard that it was a bad concussion and people that I’ve spoken to do not believe that he is going to play,” Fallica said. “We’ll see what happens. Josh Heupel certainly offered a different tune, as you would expect him to do early in the week to probably just have Georgia prepare as if Nico were going to play, have the College Football Playoff committee prepare to rank them as if they’re going to have their starting quarterback for this game.
“Maybe my intel is wrong. Maybe he is fine, and hopefully for his sake and the health of him in the long-term future, I hope that it wasn’t a bad concussion. I hope he is okay and I hope college football fans get to see him out there on Saturday. I’m sure some Georgia fans probably don’t necessarily want to see him.”
BREAKING: Chris ‘The Bear’ Fallica of FOX Sports says Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava will NOT play against Georgia according to his intel.
“BAD CONCUSSION”
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Credit (https://t.co/fR7QmcV0nB) pic.twitter.com/WNGFsct72T— LEE Ring (@HBTFD1) November 12, 2024
As Fallica referenced, Heupel had a more encouraging update on Monday.
“He was with us today. Had a really good day,” Heupel told reporters Monday. “Feel like he’ll be in great shape for Saturday, but you guys can monitor whatever the report is that comes out on Wednesday and track it through the week. But certainly feel like he’ll be in a good spot.”
On the season, Iamaleava is 144-of-221 passing (65.2% complete) for 1,879 yards, 11 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He has also rushed 64 times for 215 yards and 1 score.
In Iamaleava’s absence, Tennessee turned to Gaston Moore to finish out the MSU game. Moore was 5-of-8 passing for 38 yards in the 33-14 victory.
The SEC requires availability reports for conference contests beginning Wednesday of game week. Georgia and Tennessee are set for a 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC) kickoff from Athens on Saturday.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
