Former LSU star makes strong statement about Nico Iamaleava and the Tennessee Vols

Former LSU Tigers star turned ESPN college football analyst Booger McFarland was extremely impressed with the Tennessee Vols' 66-point win against the Chattanooga Mocs on Saturday.

McFarland said on ESPN on Saturday evening that he felt like Tennessee redshirt freshman Nico Iamaleava had the best performance from a quarterback that he's seen to this point in the season.

The former LSU defensive lineman also said that he thinks Tennessee is a dark horse contender to reach the 12-team College Football Playoff.

“The best quarterback performance I saw to this point was Nico,” said McFarland. “He’s 6-foot-6, 230 lbs. They’ve been raving about him in Knoxville and we finally got an opportunity to see it. Look out. Dark horse pick for the playoff in the SEC? The Volunteers.”

Tennessee certainly look impressive on Saturday against the Mocs. The offensive tempo looked faster than it did last season. And Iamaleava looked exactly how you'd expect a former five-star recruit to look. Additionally, the running game looked electric for the Vols and Tennessee's deep group of wide receivers looked as advertised.

The defense was pretty good, too (the Vols defensive line pretty much dominated the line of scrimmage).

It's still early. And it was just Chattanooga. But Tennessee looked as good as any Vols fan could've hoped on Saturday against a much-less talented team.

Tennessee will get a tougher challenge next week when they take on NC State in a neutral site showdown in Charlotte.

Related: Rutgers HC Greg Schiano started the 2024 season off by angering former Tennessee Vols assistant coach