Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Tennessee QB made huge mistake at end of upset loss to Arkansas

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated Oct 6, 2024 4:01 AM ET

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava committed a huge blunder at the end of his Volunteers’ upset loss at Arkansas on Saturday night.

The Vols were trailing the Razorbacks 19-14 with six seconds left at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. Tennessee had 4th-and-6 from the Arkansas 20 and needed a touchdown to win. There was no other option, no second chance, no field-goal possibility. It was a touchdown or lose. But Iamaleava seemed to forget that.

Iamaleava felt some pressure in the pocket and started to scramble. Then he ran for a first down and dived out of bounds, not realizing that time had already expired.

Nico Iamaleava’s awareness rating on CFB25 is getting bumped to a 0 in the next update

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— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 6, 2024

That was the final play of the game.

Imagine going out like that, not even realizing that time had expired and that was your last chance. Iamaleava seemed to feel he could dive out of bounds to stop the clock and have an extra play left. He was a second late.

Given the situation, he should have heaved the ball into the end zone to see what might have happened. He didn’t even give his players a chance to win that.

That was the Vols’ first loss of the season, while Arkansas improved to 4-2.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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