What can Tennessee football fans expect on Saturday night against Ohio State? Hopefully, a ton of points. There are some moving parts on offense for the Buckeyes up front with their offensive line, but we know what to expect for the starting 11 for the Vols on that side of the ball.
However, leading up to things, plenty of Ohio State supporters are calling out Tennessee and head man Josh Heupel, as they think UT isn't going to be able to handle the cold temperatures. Give us a break there, as we're not worried about that.
For Heupel, he can't change the offensive plan and just focus on the ground game because of the cold weather. Nope, he needs to put trust in one of the biggest stars on the team. We're of course talking about freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
Tennessee must focus on the aerial attack vs. Ohio State in the CFP
When he's been on his game, Iamaleava has been so much fun to watch this season. There have been some issues with the deep ball, but he has worked wonders in cleaning up that part of his game. With Tennessee being a six-point underdog, Iamaleava is going to have to be at his best for UT to record an upset.
That's where Heupel is going to come into play. Yes, the offense needs to feature standout running back Dylan Sampson, the SEC Player of the Year, but Nico also needs to be able to do his thing and air it out.
On the campaign, Iamaleava has thrown for 2,512 yards and 19 touchdowns. He's done great work taking care of the football too, tossing only five interceptions. Playing against the Buckeyes is going to be a different kind of game, though, but Iamaleava is confident in his abilities.
Heupel is too, as the young signal-caller has gotten better with each week. Come Saturday night in Columbus, Heupel needs to pull his QB aside, fire him up and let him know it's his time to shine. Iamaleava will be ready to rock and the hope is he'll silence the Ohio State faithful on hand watching this one at Neyland North.