Freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava earned Cheez-It Citrus Bowl MVP honors for his performance against Iowa. But he wasn’t the best player on the field. That honor belonged to Tennessee outside linebacker James Pearce Jr. who capped off his sophomore season the same way he started it— by dominating.
The lanky edge rusher was little talked about entering the season but quickly proved he’d be a major piece of Tennessee’s defense when he recorded seven quarterback pressures and two sacks in the season opening win against Virginia.
He ended his sophomore campaign the same way he started it, recording a sack and a number of additional pressures during Iowa’s 25 pass attempts. Pearce end his sophomore season with 9.5 sacks, the best mark from a Tennessee defender since Derek Barnett totaled 13 in 2016.
“He’s dynamic,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said of Pearce postgame. “He’s got multiple moves to affect the quarterback.”
Pearce made an abundance of big plays in the Citrus Bowl victory. Tennessee had a comfortable 14-0 lead in the third quarter but its offense had stalled out in its first two second half drives. Then Pearce provided offense himself, strip sacking Iowa quarterback Deacon Hill which gave the Vols possession at the Hawkeyes’ four-yard line.
Iamaleava rushed for his third touchdown of the game two plays later all but ending the game. Iowa was on the cusp of crossing midfield for the first time since the first quarter on its ensuing drive. Pearce had other ideas, showing his versatility by intercepting a Hill pass and returning it 52 yards for a touchdown.
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“That wasn’t bad was it?” Heupel joked about the pick six. “Let me tell you, great job. Understand the formation where the bodies are at what type release he’s getting. Ability to take his eyes, undercut the route and athletic enough to go make the play. He’s on the jugs a couple times a week just to make sure that you’re ready for that opportunity, you know what I mean? Might have asked him why at one point in your career, but it’s for that moment and nothing looks better than seeing a big man like him run down the sidelines.”
Pearce wasn’t as good as he was against Iowa all season but the performance was hardly a surprise. He took over games against South Carolina and Texas A&M, made a game changing play against Alabama and forced opponents to scheme against him which opened up opportunities for his teammates.
The versatility he showed in the pick six was also on display throughout the season, including when he dropped into pass coverage and ran sideline-to-sideline to make a key third down tackle for loss which forced Texas A&M into a longer field goal and helped decide the result of the game.
Heupel was very complimentary of Pearce postgame but emphasized that the outside linebacker is only scratching the surface in terms of versatility.
“James has got a great football future in front of him,” Heupel said. “He’s great player right now, but he’s got a chance to be extremely special. And for him, just continuing to grow in his understanding of football IQ as we continue to move him around and put him in positions to win is going to be extremely important as we go through this offseason. … There’s still growth in some of those fundamentals and continue to grow in how he defends the run. He’s doing that well, but there’s still some growth there. … He’s really rare.”
Pearce’s play was the brightest spot of Tennessee’s 2023 season. He’s already shown that he will be a first round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. If there’s really more substantial growth ahead of him entering the 2024 season, he could be Tennessee’s highest draft pick in a long time.
