What if Nico Iamaleava had been Tennessee football's starting quarterback in 2023? | Adams

The schedule tells me it’s not time for a regular-season wrap-up of Tennessee football. The formality known as beating Vanderbilt remains.

That’s nothing more than a technicality, though. There’s nothing to gain from beating Vanderbilt. It won’t make up for an upset loss to a bad Florida team in September, or the back-to-back drubbings from Missouri and Georgia on Saturday.

An upset of No. 1 Georgia would have made up for those two losses and more. It would have been historic. But the Bulldogs weren’t so inclined, winning their seventh consecutive game in the series and staying on course for a third consecutive national championship.

UT’s regular season essentially ended with that 38-10 defeat. Vanderbilt will be nothing more than an afterthought.,

Nonetheless, out of respect for the process, I will postpone a regular-season wrap-up until the Vols strengthen their stranglehold on their in-state rivalry. In its place, let’s explore the uncertainty of the hypothetical just for fun.

What if freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava had been UT’s starter from Game 1 through Game 11? How much worse would Tennessee's season have been?

It’s conjecture, of course. We have seen only snippets of the nation’s No. 1 quarterback recruit. And don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not suggesting Iamaleava should have been the starter.

Joe Milton earned the right to start based on how he performed in UT’s Orange Bowl victory over Clemson when star quarterback Hendon Hooker was unavailable after knee surgery. That’s not all. After Milton lost his starting job to Hooker early in the 2021 season, Milton could have transferred – perhaps to a program whose offense better suited his skill set.

But Milton stuck around. He became a team leader. And coach Josh Heupel rewarded him for his loyalty and leadership.

Nothing wrong with that.

However, I don’t believe the offense would have been rendered helpless if Iamaleava had been the starter. Would he have made freshman mistakes? Of course. Would his slender build have made him vulnerable to a season-ending injury? Possibly.

But the sturdiest of players is still susceptible to injury. Who knows what the next play might bring?

There’s another side to my hypothetical proposition. What if Iamaleava had started and stayed healthy? What if he had played up to the evaluations of recruiting services?

Maybe, he wouldn’t have been either an instant star or overwhelmed as a freshman starter. Perhaps, he would have been something in between.

My guess is Tennessee’s 7-4 record wouldn’t be markedly different.

The Vols still would have beaten Virginia, Austin Peay, UTSA, South Carolina, and UConn – even though those one-sided victories sometimes included unsettling momentum shifts.

You might contend that Tennessee would have lost to Texas A&M with Iamaleava at quarterback. But UT didn’t win that game 20-13 because of Milton. It won despite him.

Milton ran eight times for 34 yards and completed 11 of 22 passes for only 100 yards against the Aggies. He also threw a crucial interception with the Vols on the Aggies 16-yard line.

Conversely, Tennessee needed the best from Milton in a 33-27 over Kentucky. And he delivered, completing 17 of 20 passes for 227 yards. So, for hypothetical purposes, you could say that’s a game the Vols would have lost without Milton.

Now, let’s rephrase the hypothetical question: What if the Vols had used Iamaleava in meaningful situations?

I don’t believe the offense would have unraveled. In fact, Iamaleava might have provided a much-needed change of pace or perhaps a momentum-turning play.

His talent is obvious, even though he has had so few opportunities. Moreover, he has the right skill set for Heupel’s up-tempo, spread offense.

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You could see that next season – or maybe sooner if Milton opts out of Tennessee’s bowl game.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football: What if Nico Iamaleava was UT Vols QB in 2023?