Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava was ruled out for the remainder of Saturday’s 33-14 win over Mississippi State with an upper body injury. It isn’t clear when the setback occurred, as Iamaleava was on the field for the Vols near the end of the second half and led them on a quick drive ending in a field goal.
Prior to exiting the game, Iamaleava completed eight of his 13 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns. He was not on Tennessee’s sideline at the start of the third quarter.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said following Tennessee’s win against the Bulldogs that Iamaleava should be able to play in the Vols’ Week 12 clash against No. 3 Georgia, which fell on the road against Ole Miss Saturday. Heupel noted that the Vols held Iamaleava out of the second half as a precautionary measure.
Backup Gaston Moore entered the game in Iamaleava’s stead and served as an effective game manager in the win. He completed five passes for 38 yards, as the Vols leaned on their strong defense — which has held every opponent below 20 points this year — and a rushing attack paced by running back Dylan Sampson to bring the second half home.
Iamaleava has had an up-and-down season in his first year as Tennessee’s starter, but he has played his best football lately. In Tennessee’s Week 10 win against Kentucky, the redshirt freshman threw for 292 yards — a season high against Power Four competition — and one touchdown while completing 73.7% of his passes. He likely would have had a couple more scores were it not for a rash of drops from Tennessee’s receivers.
Entering Saturday”s game, Iamaleava had 136 completions for 1,705 yards and nine touchdowns. He also rushed for 193 yards and another touchdown.
