ATHENS — Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava is a tough player to prepare for. And Georgia will have an even more difficult time in doing so with Iamaleava’s status in question for Saturday’s game.
Iamaleava left Saturday’s game with an injury and ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports that the quarterback is in concussion protocol. Thamel did note that Iamaleava was able to practice on Tuesday.
Gaston Moore is Tennessee’s backup quarterback. He completed 5 of his 8 pass attempts for 38 yards in the win over Mississippi State. Moore has thrown 25 pass attempts on the season, completing 16 of them.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart discussed Iamaleava and the Tennessee quarterback situation at large when speaking to reporters on Tuesday night.
“Yeah, that’s a dilemma,” Smart said. “You know, we don’t know a lot. I’m talking about his injury. Like, we don’t really know what’s going on there. It’s hard to figure.”
Smart did praise Iamaleava’s athletic ability. Georgia will have to be ready in the event that he is able to play.
“Nico’s such a high-level athlete and some of the runs he’s made, I knew the kid was a great thrower, but I didn’t know he was this kind of athlete,” Smart said. “And hitting the speeds, he’s hitting GPS-wise. And they made a run on Alabama that was really elite. So, just recognizing his skill set is a lot and trying to prepare for kind of two guys, you know, because philosophically I don’t know how they’ll approach it with the other quarterback.”
Whether Iamaleava plays or not, Tennessee will lean on its ground game. Dylan Sampson is the SEC’s leading rusher, as he has 1,129 yards in 9 games. He also has 20 touchdowns on the season.
“They’re stubborn, man. They’re physical. He is an elite runner,” Smart said of Sampson. “The runs they run are sometimes nontraditional. They run some runs that other people don’t run because of the space in the box. He’s very patient. He hits small creases. He’s hard to tackle.”
Georgia did see linebacker Smael Mondon return last week after missing the previous four games with a foot injury. He played 15 snaps in the loss to Ole Miss.
Georgia will need a great effort from its run defense if the Bulldogs are to beat Tennessee.
“We weren’t even sure we were going to get Smael back for that game,” Smart said. “He wanted to play. He felt good. He did not practice a lot last week. But the plan was to bring him back practicing this week. And he’s done that. And he’s embraced the leadership role of that room.”
Georgia’s game against Tennessee is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET start on ABC. Tennessee will share an availability report on Wednesday night, which could provide better insight into Iamaleava’s status.
