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Greg McElroy says Tennessee’s offense is ‘at a crossroads’ after Arkansas loss
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Greg McElroy broke down Tennessee’s loss to Arkansas on the latest episode of Always College Football.
The Vols’ offense struggled mightily against the Razorbacks. They were unable to generate any momentum outside of a few big plays by running back Dylan Sampson in the third quarter. McElroy argued the offense is now “at a crossroads” as it tries to figure out its identity while Nico Iamaleava is still developing as a young quarterback.
“I wanted, you wanted, everyone wants Nico Iamaleava to be a superstar day one,” he said. “But that’s just not reality right now. He’s still a young quarterback. And there were some things that he left on the field. It was probably his worst performance, but that’s OK, he’s a freshman.”
Through 6 games, Iamaleava is 8th amongst qualified SEC quarterbacks in passer efficiency rating. Given the weak schedule that the Vols played in nonconference play, that’s below where you might expect a highly-touted QB to be in a Josh Heupel offense.
The good news is, Tennessee still has a very talented offense and some time to figure things out. But some adjustments will need to be made going forward, McElroy said.
“This offense is at a bit of a crossroads right now,” McElroy added. “They’ve got to get Nico playing better. He’s got to be more accurate down the field. And then they need to continue to feed Dylan Sampson because that is going to be their ticket to the top of the sport.”
Here’s video of McElroy’s comments:
"Tennessee's offense is at a bit of a crossroads." @GregMcElroy on the state of @Vol_Football's offense after a tough loss to Arkansas ⬇️#Vols | #GBO | #Tennessee pic.twitter.com/p5Cgz0yc5O
— Always College Football (@AlwaysCFB) October 7, 2024
So far this season, Sampson has 91 carries compared to 117 pass attempts from Iamaleava.
Tennessee hosts Florida on Friday afternoon.
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Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
