It was a topsy turvy 2025 for former five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava. The highly touted signal caller began the year at Tennessee, opting to stay in Knoxville despite rumors that he was going to enter the transfer portal in late December.
Of course, Iamaleava did end up leaving Tennessee following a very public breakup with the Vols at the end of spring practice. So how did Iamaleava perform during the 2025 season at UCLA compared to the 2024 season as the starter for Tennessee?
Let’s begin with the stats?
During the 2024 season at Tennessee, Iamaleava completed 213-of-334 passes for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions. His passing stats were markedly worse at UCLA where he completed 208-of-323 passes for 1,928 yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
It’s worth nothing that Iamaleava played in just 11 games at UCLA compared to the 14 he played in at Tennessee last year. He missed the Ohio State game with a concussion and the Bruins missed a bowl game. Still, Iamaleava posted a 145.3 quarterback rating in 2024 at Tennessee and posted just a 123.5 quarterback rating this season.
More From RTI: Tennessee Football Prized Signee Wins His State’s Gatorade Player of the Year
There was one area where Iamaleava was definitively more productive this season and that was rushing the football. Iamaleava totaled 505 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns this season at UCLA after rushing for 358 yards and three touchdowns in 2024 at Tennessee.
Iamaleava eclipsed 200 yards passing in just three games this season at UCLA. He was slightly better at Tennessee, doing it five times. Iamaleava did it just once in conference play both seasons.
The comparison is even more lopsided when it comes to team success. Tennessee went 10-3 (6-2 SEC) during the 2024 season, making the College Football Playoff before losing to Ohio State to end the year. UCLA had a disastrous 2025 season, going just 3-9 with the Bruins’ firing coach DeShaun Foster before the end of September.
Of course, Iamaleava was far from the main reason that Tennessee made the playoffs in 2024 with a strong defense and run game propelling the Vols to the 10-win regular season. But UCLA had much worse pieces around Iamaleava then Tennessee did which disputed a claim from Iamaleava’s camp that he left Tennessee because he needed more help around him.
