Tennessee fans, media troll Nico Iamaleava after Joey Aguilar’s hot start vs. Syracuse
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Tennessee fans had to put up with a nightmare spring because of Nico Iamaleava’s stunning departure and subsequent transfer to UCLA.
Iamaleava was supposed to be the next great Tennessee quarterback, but instead he became a punching bag for fans after deciding right around the time of the Volunteers’ spring game that he didn’t want to be in Knoxville anymore.
Well, enter Joey Aguilar, who was primed to be UCLA’s next starting quarterback. When Iamaleava headed back near his California roots and headed west, Aguilar pulled the old switch and headed east — to Knoxville, where he won the starting job in fall camp. And in the season opener on Satudray afternoon against Syracuse, at least in the first half of his Vols career, Aguilar was making everybody who bleeds orange forget about Iamaleava.
It was only midway through the 2nd quarter against the Orange in the neutral-site game in Atlanta, and Aguilar already had piled up 163 yards passing and a touchdown to help the Vols take a commanding 24-7 lead. Included in that was a beautiful 73-yard touchdown strike from Aguilar to freshman Braylon Staley, which gave Tennessee that 17-point lead early in the second quarter.
Aguilar’s throw was also a reminder of Iamaleava’s struggles connecting on deep routes last season, so there was that, too. The college football world reacted to Aguilar’s blazing start amid Iamaleava’s controversial departure in a way you would expect.
Here is just a sampling of the passion from those Vols fans as well as media:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
