By: JC Nevils
As bowl season winds down we take a look at the Cheez-It Citrus
Bowl. The Volunteers of Tennessee faced the Iowa Hawkeyes on
Monday in a drubbing.
The Tennessee Volunteers faced off against the Iowa Hawkeyes
yesterday in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl in what turned out to be a
blowout. The Vols came in with their touted offense, a little down
from a year ago, but still talented and the Hawkeyes rolled out the
number four defense in the country only giving up 13.2 points per
game. Something had to give, but that was only part of the
excitement.
Coming into the game Joe Milton III had been the starter all season,
but a day or two before kickoff Milton III opted out. That left the
Volunteers with highly touted five-star Freshman Nico Iamaleava
getting his first ever start at quarterback in his young career. If you
haven’t been paying attention or in the know in Knoxville, let me
give you a quick rundown. While Milton III has been steady all year
long, a lot of fans expected more of him along with the rest of the
offense. Nico was always the future anyhow, but in my opinion he
needed a little seasoning, so him sitting was a no brainer.
Well we fast forward to now and finally got to see what all the hype
was about. On Tennessee’s first drive of the second quarter they moved all
the way down the field with ease to get in the red zone, and then it
happened. Josh Heupel called his number on a quarterback draw and
he dashed right into the end zone from 19 yards out for his first ever
touchdown of his career. After that the floodgates would start to
open.
NICO. SIX.
📺 ABC
📲 https://t.co/4jF6avyAgv pic.twitter.com/6nT7rKRcnS— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) January 1, 2024
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He would end the day going 12-19 for 151 yards and a score
through the air with no turnovers in minimal opportunities. On the
ground he went on to rush for another 3 scores to make it a total of
four total in his debut to give the Vols a 35-0 win.
Now a TD pass to go with 3 rushing scores for Nico
📺 ABC
📲 https://t.co/4jF6avyAgv pic.twitter.com/1dh9Q0oseF— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) January 1, 2024
While the stats are one thing, his poise, football IQ, and obvious talent at
such a young age (18) is even more impressive. With the weapons
they have coming back along with the newcomers joining, they
should have plenty of talent around him to succeed. He still made a
couple of Freshman mistakes, but that was expected to go along
with a makeshift O-line. In all, the country should be put on notice if
they haven’t already about this kid.
Just take a look at social media:
Former Vols Star QB and Current Detroit Lion
🎱 is The Chosen One
— Hendon Hooker (@henhook2) January 1, 2024
Former Vols Great and Current Atlanta Falcon
— cordarrelle patterson (@ceeflashpee84) January 1, 2024
Nico is very good. Tennessee is going to be a problem.
— Saturday Down South (@SatDownSouth) January 1, 2024
