It's not often that we're going to be able to say this, but Nico Iamaleava went ahead and did Tennessee football a bit of a solid on Saturday. Things have been a nightmare for him since he moved to UCLA, but in Week 6, the former 5-star did the unthinkable.
That's right, despite being huge underdogs, UCLA took down No. 7 Penn State in Pasadena in one of the biggest upsets of the season. No one expected this to happen, especially after UCLA just fired its offensive coordinator.
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However, we'll give Iamaleava some credit. He played pretty dang well and powered his team to a win. Why does this matter for the Vols and head man Josh Heupel? Well, you've got to imagine Penn State is going to take a dive in the next AP Poll. Not only that, but might this open the door down the road for Tennessee to grab a CFP seat over the Nittany Lions? You bet.
UCLA stunning Penn State on Saturday could be a big help for Tennessee football
At halftime, the Bruins were up 27-7, which had everyone talking. Penn State wasted no time in making things interesting, but Iamaleava and UCLA bent a little bit, but they never broke. In the end, a 42-37 win was posted, turning the Big Ten upside down. Nittany Lions fans are livid with James Franklin once again too.
Tennessee is on a bye this week, but now look for them to move up at least one spot in the rankings. In Week 7, the Vols are going to host Arkansas and a revenge performance will need to be posted after last year's loss vs. the Razorbacks - Nico was running the offense at that time.
While his exit from Knoxville was brutal and fans remain furious with how things went down, if a UCLA victory means it's going to benefit Tennessee in a big way, then we'll sign up for it any day of the week. Iamaleava ended up having a day to remember, throwing for two touchdowns and adding three more on the ground.