COLUMBUS, Ohio – Nico Iamaleava was choked to death during Tennessee’s 42-17 loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff on Saturday.

The redshirt freshman quarterback ran the ball effectively at times. Mostly, though, he ran for his life against a ferocious Buckeyes pass rush, rushing for a season-low 104 yards.

The Vols (10-3) were outrebounded by Ohio State (11-2), which sacked Iamaleava four times and pressured him throughout the game.

Here’s a quick look at Iamaleava’s performance in the CFP first-round loss.

Nico Iamaleava’s stats

Iamaleava was 14 of 31 passing for 104 yards. He also rushed for 47 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.

In 13 games during the 2024 season, Iamaleava completed 64% of his passes for 2,616 yards, 19 TDs and five interceptions. And he managed 358 yards that season.

Nico’s best: legs and arms in the TD drive

Iamaleava lost star running back Dylan Sampson and starting receiver Squirrel White to injuries in the first half. So he did a little bit of everything to help UT score its first TD drive.

Trailing 21-3 late in the second quarter, the Vols marched 79 yards in 16 plays to finally get into the end zone. Iamaleava controlled the drive with his legs and arm.

Iamaleava completed four passes for 37 yards on the drive. He ran the ball six times for 21 yards. He converted two third-down plays on quarterback runs and scored on a 2-yard rush.

The worst for Nico: Hard hits and a cracked helmet

Iamaleava was under pressure on each of his first seven passing plays. He fumbled twice, took two sacks, missed a pass and had two passes deflected behind the line of scrimmage.

Iamaleava’s helmet also suffered a crack when Ohio State linebacker Cody Simon hit him hard.

That might not seem like much in the context of a full game. But while Iamaleava struggled to find light in the first quarter, Ohio State took a 21-0 lead.

Iamaleava didn’t complete his first pass until 9:36 into the second quarter.

Grade: D

Iamaleava didn’t get much help. His pass protection didn’t hold up. His receivers struggled to get open. Sampson, the SEC Offensive Player of the Year, missed most of the game due to injury. And there didn’t seem to be many play calls that surprised Ohio State.

Taking all of that into account, Iamaleava still needs to play much better. He’s a former five-star recruit who was signed by UT to play well in big games like this.

With weapons around him, Iamaleava could develop into a very good quarterback for the Vols. But without them, he wouldn’t be able to do much against a top-notch defense.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. e-mail [email protected]. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on the Knoxville News Sentinel: Nico Iamaleava stats: Tennessee QB rank in CFP loss to Ohio State