Finally, the moment that most of us have been clamoring for is here — Nico Iamaleava is going to start a real, live football game. Calls for the true freshman grew louder as the season came to a close, with Tennessee’s title hope dashed following a couple of losses to Missouri and Georgia. The staff ended up sticking with Milton in those final games, with Nico relegated to mop-up duty only.
Tennessee did preserve Iamaleava’s redshirt status, and that won’t be affected here with bowl games not counting against that number (4).
And now, things get real.