Ranking Nico Iamaleava's 2024 Performances: #1 Vanderbilt

Nico Iamaleava is one of the largest topics of conversation in college football ahead of his redshirt sophomore season with the UCLA Bruins.

After a stellar redshirt freshman season with the Tennessee Volunteers that led them to their first ever College Football Playoff appearance, Iamaleava entered the transfer portal after a NIL dispute that was largely publicized and turned him into one of the most polarizing figures in college football.

He finished last season leading the Vols to a 10-3 record and passed for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions on 63.8% (213-334) completion percentage. With that being said, let's rank Iamaleava's best performances of the season, wrapping it up with No. 1 -- Nov. 30 at Vanderbilt.

Considering the strength of the opponent and the stakes of the game, this was Iamaleava's most complete game of last season. A rivalry game in enemy territory that was a major comeback win to notch the Vols' 10th win of the season on the final game of the year. Couldn't write a better script.

Iamaleava finished this 36-23 win with four passing touchdowns and 257 passing yards on 18-of-26 (69.2%) completions with one interception. He added 42 yards on the ground on six carries and ended the rivalry with a 195.3 passer rating and his highest ESPN Adjusted QBR Rating of the season, 91.8.

Vanderbilt jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, and Tennessee responded with 29-straight points to close out the game.

Iamaleava's first touchdown pass came with 8:48 remaining in the opening frame, a 28-yard pass to wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. to close out a five-play, 73-yard drive.

The redshirt freshman's next score came in the second quarter, another pass to Thornton, this time a massive 86-yard pass to tie the game at 17 with 6:38 remaining in the second. As a result of a 10-play, 96-yard drive, Iamaleava found tight end Miles Kitzelman for an 18-yard touchdown to give the Vols a 24-17 lead going into halftime.

Iamaleava's last touchdown came right at the other end of the halftime break, where a 13-play, 75-yard grueling drive over six minutes and 17 seconds ended in a 14-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Mike Matthews to all but seal the game.

Tennessee's defense did the rest of the work, forcing a safety in the fourth quarter en route to the 36-23 win.

Rivalry games are everything, and when they have stakes like this one did for Tennessee, you like to see your quarterback show up. UCLA similarly takes on USC in the final game of this season, and it could have serious bowl game implications should the Bruins drop six games before. Bruins fans should look at this game as promising for the incoming redshirt sophomore in a stacked conference like the Big Ten.