The Nico Iamaleava saga continues to have new layers uncovered after the star quarterback's spring NIL holdout and subsequent transfer to UCLA, and for the first time the rumors have elicited a response from him.

Obviously, rumors are flying after Iamaleava skipped a spring practice in Knoxville just before Tennessee's spring game, prompting Josh Heupel and the Volunteers to cut ties with the quarterback. One of the common rumors swirling around was that Iamaleava threatened to sit out of Tennessee's College Football Playoff game last December against Ohio State or that he tried to throw the game.

On Friday, Iamaleava responded to those rumors with a pair of Instagram stories, via On3 Sports.

“Damn i tried to sit out and throw the playoff game too?” Iamaleava said with some laughing emojis. “These boys just make me laugh man ain't no way.”

Iamaleava posted a hilarious caption on the next slide under a picture of him standing next to Tennessee backup quarterback Navy Shuler before the Ohio State game.

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“Me and @navyshuler talm bout how ima throw this game rq,” Iamaleava wrote.

Iamaleava and the Volunteers had a disastrous game against Ohio State, falling into an early 21-0 hole as the Buckeyes stifled the star quarterback and the rest of the Tennessee offense. Despite the California native's best efforts, Tennessee was never able to climb back into the game and ended up losing 42-17 as the Buckeyes went on to win the national championship.

Iamaleava will have a chance to get revenge on Ohio State this upcoming season while playing at UCLA. The Bruins are slated to travel to Columbus to take on Ohio State on Nov. 15 in a Big Ten clash.

That game will almost certainly have big conference title implications for the Buckeyes, and UCLA is also hoping it is still in the race at that point in the season with new offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri. With an improved system and better quarterback play from Iamaleava, UCLA is one of the teams to watch heading into next season.