Who knew a Wednesday night could hold such anticipation for the Georgia and Tennessee football faithful?
With the Southeastern Conference providing availability reports for the first time this season leading into showdowns between league teams, the status of Volunteers redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava had been an unknown as far as Saturday night’s contest against the Bulldogs in Athens. Iamaleava suffered an upper-body injury late in the first half of last weekend’s 33-14 downing of Mississippi State inside Neyland Stadium, with ESPN reporting Tuesday that the 6-foot-6, 215-pounder was in concussion protocol.
On Wednesday’s weekly SEC Zoom call, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said, “Nico has been here in the early part of the week. At this point in the week, I’ll refer everybody to the availability report that comes out later tonight. Everybody can wait with anticipation for that.”
The Wednesday reveal?
Iamaleava and senior receiver Dont’e Thornton were listed as questionable for Saturday, which could have folks guessing right up until the 7:30 kickoff on ABC.
“We don’t really know what’s going on there, and it’s hard to figure,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Tuesday night after practice. “Because they had those games earlier in the year where they beat teams so bad, Gaston (Moore) got to play quite a bit, and we obviously have the game that he just played in. I didn’t know a lot about the kid (Aidan Warner) who came in the Florida game, and in this situation, we don’t know, so there is a prep there.
“Nico is such a high-level athlete, and some of the runs he’s made — I knew the kid was a great thrower, but I didn’t know he was this kind of athlete and hitting the speeds he’s hitting GPS-wise. He made a run on Alabama that was really elite. Philosophically, I don’t know how they’ll approach it with the other quarterback, Gaston.”
Smart was asked on Wednesday’s Zoom call whether he views the new availability reports as the absolute gospel or with skepticism.
“It depends on the team,” he said. “Honestly, I really don’t pay much attention to it. I look at it and see it, but there is not a lot of control you have over that, right? So when it comes out, it doesn’t matter if you’re skeptical of it or not. You’ve got to prepare your team to play.
“These teams we play in the SEC have capable backups, but once you’re in that probable or questionable area, you know there is a chance that they can play.”
Georgia running backs Trevor Etienne and Cash Jones were listed as questionable as well.
The SEC could be looking at a scenario in which it has six, seven or even eight two-loss teams within league play at the end of the regular season.
Heupel was asked Wednesday whether he has studied the conference’s tiebreaking procedures.
“I haven’t at this point,” he said. “It’s not of my concern right now.”
LSU redshirt junior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier racked up 13 touchdown passes and only two interceptions through his first four games this season.
In his past five contests, the 6-2, 200-pounder has eight touchdown tosses and nine interceptions. The Tigers have been thumped by Texas A&M and Alabama in their last two games, and coach Brian Kelly was asked Wednesday if he had considered changing quarterbacks.
“Absolutely not,” Kelly responded. “Look, when a coach gives you a definitive answer like that, everybody kind of rolls their eyes and says, ‘He’s just digging his feet in,’ but he gives us the best chance to be successful, and that’s kind of where we’re at. We have to do a better job for him, and he has to do a better job, but we believe in him.
“As we continue to grow in the first year of a starter, he gives us the best chance to be successful. We’ve done the due diligence. We’ve watched these kids play.”
Arkansas hosts Texas this Saturday, and Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman was asked about those who have criticized the Longhorns for being No. 3 this week in both the Associated Press poll and the College Football Playoff rankings.
Texas is 8-1 but does not have a victory over a team that is currently ranked.
“I don’t think critics know what the hell they’re talking about, and I don’t think they know much of what they’re talking about on this one, either,” Pittman said. “This is a damn fine Texas team. You don’t go beat Oklahoma by 31 and beat Mississippi State by 22 and beat Michigan by 19 and beat Colorado State 52-0 and have a sorry football team. You just don’t.
“These guys are ranked No. 3 in the country because they deserve it, and it’s not their fault that they haven’t played a schedule like ours. We’ve played LSU and Ole Miss and A&M and Tennessee. The schedule is the schedule, and they’ve done a damn fine job with their schedule.”
South Carolina coach Shane Beamer was asked Wednesday whether he was surprised that the SEC, which has provided 13 of the past 18 national champions, didn’t have any of its traditional members among the top six in this week’s CFP rankings.
“I know the league that we play in, and I know the level of talent that you see every single Saturday,” Beamer said. “All you have to do is look at the NFL draft every April. There is a reason this league has led the nation in draft picks for like the last 19 years, if I’m not mistaken.
“There are no weeks off in this league. It’s not one of those where there are four great teams at the top of the conference and everybody else is just average.”
The Big Ten has four of the top five teams in this week’s CFP rankings and no other members ranked.
Pasquali’s Pix
Texas at Arkansas: The Longhorns and Razorbacks are meeting for the 80th time but for the first time as league foes since they were Southwest Conference rivals in 1991. Longhorns 33, Razorbacks 20.
Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn: This is a wonderful opportunity for Hugh Freeze to improve on that 5-8 record with the Tigers inside of Jordan-Hare Stadium. Tigers 34, Warhawks 19.
Samford at UTC: Should the Mocs win Saturday, Rusty Wright would have a higher win percentage in Southern Conference games (68.2%) than Russ Huesman (67.7%) did from 2009-16. Mocs 31, Bulldogs 22.
Mercer at Alabama: The Bears are 9-1 and the Crimson Tide are 7-2, so this is anybody’s game. Crimson Tide 45, Bears 6.
LSU at Florida: The Tigers took a 34-33-3 series lead with last year’s 52-35 triumph in Baton Rouge that helped catapult Jayden Daniels to the Heisman Trophy. Tigers 30, Gators 27.
Nebraska at Southern California: This would have been a dream matchup of my childhood, and we get it when they’re a combined 9-9. Trojans 28, Cornhuskers 23.
Missouri at South Carolina: Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea still has to be the favorite for SEC coach of the year, but Beamer is making a late charge. Gamecocks 31, Tigers 22.
Tennessee at Georgia: Iamaleava and Carson Beck each make more than the average American. Bulldogs 20, Volunteers 13.
Other picks:
Kentucky 49, Murray State 16
Texas A&M 45, New Mexico State 12
Ohio State 38, Northwestern 9
Clemson 27, Pittsburgh 20
Colorado 34, Utah 21
Penn State 42, Purdue 21
Notre Dame 30, Virginia 13
SMU 31, Boston College 26
Louisville 26, Stanford 17
Boise State 38, San Jose State 19
Kansas State 27, Arizona State 24
Oregon 34, Wisconsin 13
Iowa State 28, Cincinnati 21
North Carolina 30, Wake Forest 23
Memphis 32, UAB 15
Washington State 27, New Mexico 20
Brigham Young 28, Kansas 19
Winners — 17
Fines levied — 8
Pasquali is 210-65 overall (76.4%) this season.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.