The Tennessee Volunteers are riding high amid a 4-0 start to the season. At #4 in both the AP and coaches polls, the expectations are high for a special season on Rocky Top.
One major reason for the hot start is the strong play of redshirt freshman QB Nico Iamaleava. The talented signal caller has so far proven that the excitement of his four-touchdown performance against Iowa in the Vols' 35-0 Citrus Bowl win was a sign of good things to come.
So far this season, he's completed 69.3% of his passes for 892 yards with 7 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. And, of course, most of that has been in limited action because the Vols blew their first three opponents off the field.
So, what can the young quarterback do to improve as the Vols head into the meat of their SEC schedule? Josh Heupel was asked on Monday during his press conference about where he's seen Nico grow early in the season, and where he needs to improve going forward. Heupel's answer was pretty direct as to the latter: ball security.
"Continued growth, taking care of the football," Heupel said. "It's presented itself different ways. At the end of the day, he's got to make it right. At times, it means not turning a negative play into one that kicks us in the butt. It's ok in some of those situations to go punt the football .
Heupel was quick to point out a couple of aspects of Nico's game that aren't typically all that common of a young QB: his ability to adjust to changes during games, as well as his ability to maintain his composure in tough environments.
"He's got really good command and understanding of what we're doing. Seeing different structures than what we've seen during the course of the week on film, being able to adjust during the course of the game. Love a lot of what we've seen. The great thing about him at this point is great competitive composure. Goes and plays the next play independent and free. He's handled himself well on the road. He and the offense have some areas we can continue to grow in that area. That will be another big challenge with this football game, heading to Fayetteville and understand the type of environment that we're getting ready to go play in."
Those are all pretty fair statements. If there have been shortcomings thus far with Nico's game, it's been a few instances where he's given up the football. Now, some of that is not primarily on him, such as when an Oklahoma safety blew past Vols tackle Dayne Davis and jarred the ball loose from Nico's blindside early in the second quarter. The second fumble, which happened later in the first half, also came off Davis getting beat off the edge, although that rusher was not on the blind side.
Iamaleava did have a couple of errant throws against NC State, misfiring on a pass intended for Bru McCoy between three defenders that sailed and was picked off and returned. NC State ultimately settled for a field goal. Later, up 37-3 and in the red zone, he released a ball with a rusher coming right in his face, and the ball fluttered up in the air and was intercepted and returned for a touchdown.
Beyond those instances, it's been very clean for the Vols' talented young quarterback. But with the schedule about to get much tougher, any kind of turnover could spell the difference between a win and a loss, so it's easy to understand where Heupel is coming from.
However, if you can gauge anything from Nico's advanced maturity level and learning curve, it won't take him much time to improve in that area as well.
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