Iamaleava’s departure makes the SEC road a little easier for OU | Berry Tramel’s ScissorTales

April 22, 2025 Kunle Yomi Uncategorized 0

Iamaleava’s departure makes the SEC road a little easier for OU | Berry Tramel’s ScissorTales

Quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s exodus from Tennessee at the end of the Volunteers’ spring practice was not well-received in college football circles.

Iamaleava apparently sought to hold Tennessee hostage for more money. College football doesn’t cotton to holdouts. I don’t know many of us who are crazy about the negotiating tactic.

But let’s be honest. College football never has been and certainly is not now some kind of virtuous endeavor. It’s a pirate ship. A back alley. Guerilla warfare.

And the Iamaleava departure was welcome news to at least 15 schools: the Southeastern Conference members who don’t hang out on the banks of the Tennessee River. The Sooners, for example.

Iamaleava was a good, not great, quarterback at Tennessee. The Volunteers ran the ball and played top-shelf defense en route to the College Football Playoff. But Iamaleava was quite capable of improving in his third year on Rocky Top, so his departure will hurt. With the portal picked clean, it seems the Volunteers are preparing to go with a young quarterback. Which means Tennessee won’t be as good at QB.

Sign the Sooners up for that. OU plays in Knoxville on November 1, and the Sooners’ chances for victory at Neyland Stadium look better than they did before Iamaleava traded the Smoky Mountains for the Hollywood Hills.

The Tuesday ScissorTales analyze a curious Mark Daigneault replay challenge, look at Big 12 football draft prospects and let a reader rank the sports at OU. But we start with how Nico Iamaleava’s void could affect the SEC landscape.

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel reportedly is not smitten with the quarterbacks available in the transfer portal. Steve Angelli, late of Notre Dame, and Jaden Rashada, who has traveled the nation making deals but not lasting long with Florida, Arizona State or Georgia, appear to be the top two available.

I can see why Heupel would instead forge on with redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre. Still, that stings Tennessee. If you divided SEC quarterbacks into tiers, ahead of the 2025 season, Iamaleava would have been in the top tier. Now, the Volunteers go from a quarterback in the upper half of the SEC to a quarterback in the bottom half of the SEC.

Tier 1

Louisiana State’s Garrett Nussmeier, Florida’s DJ Lagway, Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, OU’s John Mateer.

These are quarterbacks who have proved themselves in the SEC or have transferred in after stellar seasons elsewhere.

The best SEC veterans are Nussmeier, Lagway, Pavia and Sellers. Nussmeier was an excellent QB for LSU, while Lagway, Pavia and Sellers engineered turnaround seasons for their programs.

Mateer joins this tier, courtesy of his 2024 season at Washington State, when he threw for 29 touchdowns and ran for 15. Most analysts project Mateer’s game to sparkle in the SEC. ESPN recently ranked him second nationally among college quarterbacks.

Tier 2

Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed, Arkansas’ Taylen Green, Georgia’s Gunner Stockton, Mississippi State’s Blake Shapen and Texas’ Arch Manning. 

These are quarterbacks who have played well in limited SEC action or OK in more playing time.

Reed had his moments in a rotating role last season. Green shined at times, too, but he also had a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 15:9, with just 60.4% completions. Stockton was Carson Beck’s backup last season but delivered a quality performance in relief during the SEC Championship Game victory over Texas, then was so-so in the national quarterfinals against Notre Dame. Shapen at Baylor and Mississippi State combined has completed 64.3% of his passes, with 44 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

Manning comes with a roaring pedigree but has played minimally in two Texas seasons. Some say he belongs in Tier I. Others say if his name was Arch Smith, he’d be in Tier 3.

Tier 3

Auburn’s Jackson Arnold, Ole Miss’ Austin Simmons, Missouri’s Beau Pribula, Kentucky’s Zach Calzada, Tennessee’s Jake Merklinger and Alabama’s Austin Mack or Ty Simpson.

Arnold was a massive disappointment at OU. The others on this list haven’t played much.

Simmons looked good for a series against Georgia. Pribula was a backup at Penn State and used in some short-yardage situations.

Calzada spent three years at A&M, 2019-21, and started 10 games. He transferred to Auburn, didn’t play, and went to Incarnate Word, where he put up big numbers. Now his seventh college season will be with Kentucky.

Merklinger hasn’t played. Mack barely has played, after redshirting at Washington in 2023 and transferring to Alabama for 2024. Simpson is battling Mack for the Bama job and has barely played in three Crimson Tide seasons.

So what does Iamaleava’s departure mean for the SEC? One less quarterback you know can win. An easier path for Tennessee’s opponents.mThe Sooners’ load just got a little lighter.

Why Daigneault challenged up 30

With four seconds left in the first half Sunday of the Thunder-Grizzlies playoff game, the Thunder led 63-36. The Grizzlies twice figured they might get to the locker room down just 27. Instead, the Thunder led 68-36 at halftime.

Here’s how the wild sequence went. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had made just one of nine shots to that point and had missed all five of his 3-point attempts, launched a 3-pointer that zipped through with 3.5 seconds left, giving the Thunder a 66-36 lead.

Then with 1.2 seconds left, OKC’s Alex Caruso was called for a foul as Desmond Bane dribbled up court and threw up a desperation halfcourt shot upon contact. Caruso immediately twirled his finger, the international signal for “challenge the call,” and Mark Daigneault, after a quick review of the video, did just that.

The officiating crew overturned the call, instead citing Marvin Bagley for an offensive foul on Caruso, and the Thunder got possession with 1.2 seconds left. Caruso lofted a 40-foot inbounds pass at the basket, where 6-foot-2 Memphis guard Ja Morant was caught guarding 7-foot-1 Chet Holmgren. Morant shoved Holmgren, was called for a foul and Holmgren made two foul shots with 1.2 seconds left. The Thunder led 68-36. So why would Daigneault worry about a challenge up 30 points in the final seconds of the first half?

“With those, I’m just trying to help the team in any way I can,” Daigneault said. “I didn’t think Bagley was legal on that play. Obviously, he wasn’t, because they confirmed that with the challenge. Even there, they’re about to give the guy three shots, in a wide-margin game.

“So that challenge doesn’t have to have a high probability to make it worth it, in my mind. But Alex was pretty convicted that he was illegal on the court.”

Odds were long that the Thunder would need a challenge late in the game. A team with a 30-point lead ought to be assured of victory. But a five-point swing — eliminating Bane’s three foul shots, adding Holmgren’s two foul shots — meant the Thunder delivered a psychological blow to the Grizzlies.

A halftime lead of 27 sounds insurmountable. But a halftime lead of 32 points is ridiculous. A halftime lead of 32 meant the game was over. And indeed, Memphis checked out. The Thunder scored the first 10 points of the third quarter, and the historic rout was sealed. OKC won 131-80, the fifth-largest margin in NBA playoff history.

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