Tennessee football has one of its biggest games of this season on Saturday, as it heads to Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs. This is a huge game for both teams as they jostle for position both in the SEC standings and the College Football Playoff rankings.
Unfortunately for Josh Heupel and the Volunteers, they might be without starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava on Saturday. Iamaleava left last weekend's win over Mississippi State in the first half with a head injury and didn't even return to the field after halftime. He is currently in concussion protocol, and his status for Saturday's game is currently unclear. However, there have been some good signs, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.
“While his status for this Saturday's contest is uncertain, there's been some positive signs from Tennessee this week,” Thamel wrote. “He did dress and practice on both Monday and Tuesday, and Volunteers coach Josh Heupel on Monday said Iamaleava was in ‘great shape' to play against Georgia.”
Iamaleava will still have to clear protocols before being cleared to play, and Tennessee will be desperately hoping that he makes it through in time for Saturday. For the season, Iamaleava is completing over 65% of his passes with 1,879 yards and 11 touchdowns with four interceptions.
Tennessee in must-win situation heading into Georgia game
Tennessee has just one loss on the season, which puts it in a better position than most of its SEC counterparts, including Georgia, who have two. However, Tennessee's margin for error is smaller than it appears on the surface.
Despite having just one loss, Tennessee is only ranked at No. 7 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. That puts it below other one-loss teams such as Texas, Penn State and Ohio State.
A game against Georgia, currently ranked No. 12, provides Tennessee with a great opportunity to boost its resume and prove that it's worthy of a higher ranking. However, it's also Tennessee's last chance to impress the committee and add a marquee win to its resume. Tennessee does have a quality win at home against Alabama this season, but also has a bad loss against unranked Arkansas.
At this point, it looks like there's going to be a major traffic jam in the SEC, with a ton of potential two-loss teams in the mix. One quality win and two losses (one of them against an unranked team) like Tennessee has may not be enough to crack the playoff field. A win on Saturday would also put Tennessee in pole position to reach the SEC title game in Atlanta, which would all but secure its place in the field.
Tennessee still has two winnable games after this Georgia clash on Saturday, and both of them are winnable opportunities against UTEP and Vanderbilt. However, if the Volunteers don't want to be pleading their case on Selection Sunday, they would be wise to pick up a victory in Athens.
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