This past weekend, we got the first look at both new Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar with the Vols and former UT quarterback Nico Iamaleava with his new team, UCLA. Former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier also got the chance to watch.
During an appearance on ‘Another Dooley Noted Podcast,’ Spurrier and host of the show, Pat Dooley, weighed in on both of the signal callers’ showings. Here is what they said.
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Spurrier: “Aguilar at Tennessee.”
Dooley: “Yeah, he had a good game.”
Spurrier: “Chris Doering has already said he’s better than Nico.”
Dooley: “Well, he was in the first game.”
Spurrier: “He was (on Saturday). Nico went to UCLA.”
Dooley: “I watched that game. I actually taped it to watch because it was on at 11 o’clock. I’m watching and I’m like, this is unbelievable how bad Iamaleava is. He just couldn’t do anything right.”
Spurrier: “He had some so-so games really at Tennessee. But this Aguilar kid seems to be a good teammate and so forth.”
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In Aguilar’s debut, he led Tennessee to a 45-26 win over Syracuse in Atlanta. He threw for 247 yards on 16-of-28 passing with three touchdowns and no interceptions. This included a 73-yard toss to Braylon Staley. He also ran for 34 yards on six attempts. He fumbled the mesh of a handoff with Star Thomas, as well.
For Iamaleava, his UCLA team fell short in a 43-10 defeat to Utah. He completed 11-of-22 passes for 136 yards with a touchdown and an interception. On 13 carries, he ran for 47 yards. He was sacked four times.
Next, Aguilar will lead the Vols in their home opener against ETSU on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET and will air on ESPN+/SECN+.
Iamaleava will head to UNLV to face former Florida coach Dan Mullen’s squad. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. ET on CBSSN on Saturday.
