He was deeply moved as he sent an emotional note to the Vols supporters who had journeyed to Columbus – Nico Iamaleava.

It’s entirely ok to feel a little down right now, especially after the Tennessee football demise at the hands of Ohio State in the first round of the College Football Playoff. It didn’t go so wellfor the Vols in Columbus; they lost 42-17 to the Buckeyes-ouch.

As you could probably guess, after the final whistle, there was a lot of disappointment from coaches and players about how it ended. The list includes quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who threw for 104 yards and added 47 rushing yards, scoring two rushing touchdowns.

Despite everything, Iamaleava put his heart and soul into it. He did that knowing that the stands held a lot of people covered in orange. Addressing the media, the star quarterback quickly thanked everyone for making the trip to support the team:

#Vols QB Nico Iamaleava: We had so much support up here. So many fans. I hate that we played like that. But I want to say thank you to those people, and I hope they drive home safe.

Nico Iamaleava was thankful for Tennessee fans at the Ohio State game

Such an emotional Iamaleava after the loss, you can see from that quote via Wes Rucker. After all, it would have meant for him that so many came from Tennessee to cheer on the players. Here, he records a loss but does nothing to diminish that.

There was usually very little expectation that the Vols would go anywhere near the College Football Playoff this year. UT ended up going 10-2 and included victories of Florida and Alabama. Ending the regular season as a Top 10 team certainly asserts how good the job Josh Heupel is doing in Knoxville.

The best still to come for him because this is also Iamaleava’s redshirt freshman season. It would be a dull year of continued development under Heupel. The homework for 2025 will commence earlier. That L to Ohio State is sure to make Iamaleava come back stronger.