National Pundits Identify Tennessee's Biggest Question Mark
College football is preparing to enter a new era of postseason play. The College Football Playoff is expanding from four to twelve teams, beginning in the 2024 season. That allows a higher chance for championship contention for several programs, many of whom hope to take that next stop. 247Sports' identified the biggest weakness for each top-25 program heading into next season in the altered CFP format, and all eyes are centered on quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
"One year after leading the nation in scoring, Tennessee slid all the way to 40th this season with a new quarterback. The Volunteers are poised for another signal-caller shift and could return to offensive prominence with a former five-star recruit in Iamaleava under center." - 247Sports's Carter Bahns on Nico Iamaleava
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel has fielded a slew of historic offenses during his tenure as a head coach, but there's no denying that the 2023 Vols took a step back. There were several contributing factors, but the main flaw was that the passing offense wasn't what it was in the two years prior. There's belief around Knoxville, Tennessee, that Iamaleava is the missing part from a productive aerial attack, and he lived up to that billing in his first career start.
He scored four total touchdowns, rallying Tennessee to a 35-0 win over the No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes. Iamaleava had a lot of promise when he arrived at the University of Tennessee, and many are excited to see if he can stretch that hype out over the course of an entire college football season.
Tennessee Volunteers QB Nico Iamaleava before the win vs. Iowa. (Photo by Saul Young of the News Sentinel)
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