REPORT: Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava in Concussion Protocol
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ATHENS - UGA Football is set to take the Tennessee Vols this Saturday, but there is some concern about it Tennessee starting QB Nico Iamaleava’s availability for this weekend’s huge showdown.
ESPN reported Tuesday night that Iamaleava is in concussion protocol - putting his ability to play against the Dawgs in question. Tennessee coach Josh Heupel told reporters Monday that Iamaleava was in "great shape for Saturday".
Iamaleava didn’t play during the second half of the Vols’ lopsided win over Mississippi State Saturday night. Sources told ESPN the signal caller had “concussion-like symptoms”, which led to him exiting the game.
SEC schools are required to report injuries thanks to a league-mandated availability report that will be released Wednesday night.
UGA-TENNESSEE QUICK NOTES
Georgia (7-2, 5-2 SEC) returns to Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium Saturday for the first time since Oct. 12. The Bulldogs have played an SEC-low three home games where they are 3-0. Georgia went 2-2 on the road and 2-0 at neutral sites (Atlanta & Jacksonville). The Bulldogs now finish the regular season with three home games against Tennessee, UMASS and Georgia Tech.
Last Saturday, Georgia played its final road game of the regular season, capping a stretch that saw it play at Kentucky, #4 Alabama, #1 Texas, Florida in Jacksonville and No. 16 Ole Miss.
Both ESPN College Game Day and the traveling SEC road show “SEC Nation” will be in Athens this week for the matchup. On Oct. 19, the GameDay gang was in Austin for Georgia’s big win over then top-ranked Texas as well as the Alabama game in Tuscaloosa in September. SEC Nation was in Oxford last Saturday for the Georgia-Ole Miss game and in Jacksonville for the Florida contest.
This marks only the seventh time in the regular season that GameDay and SEC Nation will visit the same game site and first time in 2024 Both crews were in Jacksonville in 2018 and in Athens for the UK game in 2021 and UT game in 2022. Last year, GameDay was in Athens for Georgia’s win over the Rebels.
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Georgia is 18-18 when GameDay is on site for a Georgia game including 7-2 in Athens. Georgia’s first appearance with the show came on Sept. 9, 1995 in Knoxville when unranked Georgia nearly pulled off the upset that day as No. 8 UT hung for a 30-27 win. The Bulldogs are 27-12 when SEC Nation is present including 8-3 in Athens. This crew last visited Athens for the 2023 Kentucky game as the Bulldogs posted a 51-13 victory.
Time To Bounce Back Again
In the Kirby Smart era, the Bulldogs are 14-3 after a loss and haven’t lost back-to-back games in the regular season since 2016, his first year at the helm. The last eight times Georgia has lost a game, it has won its next contest. Back in 2016, Georgia fell to Vanderbilt in Athens on Oct. 15 and then to Florida in Jacksonville on Oct. 29. Georgia dropped its final two games of the 2018 postseason, falling to No. 1 Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and then were upset by No. 15 Texas in the Sugar Bowl. This season, Georgia lost at No. 4 Alabama and the next week beat Auburn in Athens. The Bulldogs will aim to bounce back from their road loss at No. 16 Ole Miss when it plays host to Tennessee.
The Volunteers (8-1, 5-1 SEC) capped a 4-0 homestand with a 33-14 win over Mississippi State last Saturday. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava and the SEC’s leading rusher Dylan Sampson headline an offense that averages 37.6 ppg while the defense allows just 12.6 ppg. Sampson has rushed for 1,129 yards and 20 TDs. Edge rusher James Pearce Jr., anchors the defense with 7.5 TFL, 5.5 sacks and 27 stops while linebacker Arion Carter leads the team with 50 tackles.
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2023 Georgia-Tennessee Flashback
Carson Beck threw three touchdown passes, wideout Dillon Bell caught one TD pass and threw for another as top-ranked Georgia dispatched the Vols 38-10 in Knoxville in front of a crowd of 101,915. The Bulldogs fell behind 7-0 after the first play from scrimmage when Jaylen Wright raced 75 yards for a score. However, Georgia responded with 24 unanswered points to take command. The Bulldogs blanked the Vols in the second half and added two more scores for the final.
With the victory, Georgia completed a third straight undefeated run through the SEC, marking the first time a team had accomplished that since the Bulldogs did it from 1980-82. Also, it was an SEC and school record 28th consecutive league win.
Georgia Versus Tennessee Since 2016
2016 in Athens: #11 UT d. #25 Georgia 34-31
2017 in Knoxville: #7 Georgia d. UT 41-0
2018 in Athens: #2 Georgia d. UT 38-12
2019 in Knoxville: #3 Georgia d. UT 43-14
2020 in Athens: #3 Georgia d. #14 UT 44-21
2021 in Knoxville: #2 Georgia d. UT 41-17
2022 in Athens: #3 Georgia d. #1 UT 27-13
2023 in Knoxville: #1 Georgia d. #18 UT 38-10
Georgia-Tennessee Series
Georgia owns 28-23-2 edge in the series history with the Volunteers. Lately, it’s the Bulldogs with the upperhand as they are 7-1 against UT under Kirby Smart including winning the past seven meetings. The seven-game winning streak is the longest streak for the Bulldogs in the series which dates to 1899.