Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman knows his team will have their work cut out for them against the Tennessee Vols on Saturday night in Fayetteville.
Specifically, Pittman knows that defending Vols redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava won’t be easy — and not just because of Iamaleava’s elite physical abilities.
Pittman says Iamaleava’s ability to prevent mistakes is what makes playing against the California native “scary”. “Really good, really good, [he’s] mature,” said Pittman on Monday when asked about Iamaleava. “It’s just like (Texas A&M QB) Marcel Reed. Reed did what he needed to do, he didn’t turn the football over. I’m not comparing them. I’m saying Nico is that — he does what he needs to do. He’s got a lot of opportunities to shine in his offense. He doesn’t make mistakes. And then he does it at a high, high, high, high level. He’s scary because he’s not going to make mistakes and he is going to run the offense to a perfection. And for a young guy like that, he’s just really impressive.”
Iamaleava’s maturity is one of the biggest traits that sets him apart from other young talented quarterbacks. The arm talent, the size, and the elusiveness are why Iamaleava has an incredibly high ceiling. The maturity is why he’s elite at such a young age.
The Vols’ road win against Oklahoma last month happened in large part because Iamaleava didn’t try to do too much. He trusted the gameplan and didn’t try to force anything. As a result, Tennessee left Norman with one of the program’s biggest wins in the last two decades.
Iamaleava will get another chance to lead the Vols to another big SEC road win on Saturday night when Tennessee takes on Arkansas.