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Tennessee Vols catch shade in new EA Sports College Football video game over Nico Iamaleava and playoff loss to Ohio State

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Zach Ragan | Last updated Jul 8, 2025 3:32 PM ET

If you're a Tennessee Vols fan who is tired of hearing about the blowout loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff and the offseason drama involving former UT quarterback Nico Iamaleava, then you should probably refrain from playing the new EA Sports College Football 26 video game that was released this week.

The Vols' lopsided loss to Ohio State and Iamaleava's surprising spring transfer from Tennessee to UCLA is mentioned by announcer Rece Davis (H/T Christian Skelton -- @CLSkelton10) in the game.

"The 2024 season for Tennessee had some highs -- wins over Bama, Florida, and Oklahoma," says Davis. "But man, did it end with a thud. They got clipped by the Ohio State buzzsaw, and then suffered the big shocker of the offseason with Nico Iamaleava jumping into the transfer portal."

Just played my first game with the Vols in CFB 26 earlier: Beat Arkansas 28-7 at Neyland, if Star Thomas is as good as he is in the game irl we’ve got something there, Telander just destroys everyone lol (clip is talking about our season last year Nico mentioned but gets cut) pic.twitter.com/26itbzVZKO
— Christian Skelton (@CLSkelton10) July 8, 2025

On one hand, it's awesome to hear some up-to-date commentary in the game. But on the other hand, if you're a Vols fan, you're probably ready to forget about the loss to the Buckeyes and Iamaleava's departure from Rocky Top.

Then again, who are we kidding? The Nico story is going to be impossible to escape this season. The only way Vols fans will be able to forget about it is if Tennessee's offense comes out firing on all cylinders this fall behind either Joey Aguilar, Jake Merklinger, or George MacIntyre.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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