Tennessee's season ended on Saturday night with a disappointing 42-17 loss to Ohio State. The loss looks terrible on paper, but the Buckeyes have the most talented roster in the country and were bound to catch fire sooner rather than later.
The program is still in great shape despite the loss. Five years ago, Tennessee lost to Georgia State at home, and now they're competing in the College Football Playoff.
Tennessee's offense has struggled to get off to quick starts this year, which was not an issue before this season with the Josh Heupel offense. This is partly because Tennessee's redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava spent this year getting his feet wet against the SEC competition.
Regardless of Nico's inexperience, he finishes his first full season as a college starting quarterback with a career 11-3 record. He also put together the greatest season from a freshman quarterback in program history.
Nico was one of the few bright spots in Tennessee's loss. Even when the Vols had no chance at completing the comeback, Nico still played hard until the end of every whistle, and people took notice.
ESPN host and member of the College Gameday crew Pat McAfee complimented Iamaleava's performance, especially late in the game.
Nico Iamaleava is a DAWG
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 23, 2024
I have very high expectations for him going forward #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/kTakU4nqZK
Nico is indeed a dawg. People have criticized him all year because of the price tag associated with his name. Fans and opponents expected Nico to be a Heisman-worthy quarterback in his first season as a starting quarterback.
While those were high hopes for many, it's unlikely we see freshman quarterbacks perform like Johnny Manziel or Trevor Lawrence every time they take over a team as a freshman.
In the scope of the best seasons from a freshman quarterback in college football history, Nico likely had a top-ten freshman season among Power Four quarterbacks and possibly of all-time.
Josh Heupel is Tennessee's guy. Nico is Heupel's guy. Will they lead Tennessee to a national championship? Only time will tell, but Nico has proven he has the toughness and talent needed to win it all if he has the opportunity to continue developing in Heupel's program and offensive system.