UCLA's Loss was Tennessee's Gain

Today I want to talk about how the disaster at UCLA has been a positive for the Tennessee Volunteers.

Yesterday I mentioned UCLA and their new QB, Nico Iamalevea. Nico was a big time prospect two years ago. He was the talk of the college football world and he was going to help Tennessee stay relevant. They did make the playoff last season, but it was a quick exit. Then Nico and Tennessee had a messy breakup. It was very weird and didn't make a ton of sense to me. Nico seemed like a good fit for Tennessee and I figured he would only get better the next couple seasons under Josh Heupel. That didn't happen and he ended up at UCLA. As I wrote yesterday, that hasn't worked out so well for them. UCLA is 0-3, Nico seems flustered and inconsistent and the head coach was just shown the door. It feels like a full rebuild there.

UCLA's former QB, Joey Aguilar, ended up at Tennessee after the offseason drama. He quietly slipped into the vacant QB spot and I kind of forgot about him, as did some other people. This was the rare QB for QB swap in the transfer portal. I don't remember if this has ever actually happened in the transfer portal era. But, Aguilar doesn't have the name recognition and his transfer was more under the radar. Aguilar has been a revelation so far at Tennessee. Tennessee sits at 2-1 right now, but maybe they should be 3-0. They were in control of the Georgia game last week, but they blew it. That had nothing to do with Aguilar. He more than looked the part as the star QB of a high level SEC team. I watched the beginning of the game because I wanted to see him play, as I had never watched him before. From the opening drive throughout the whole game he was on point. He made great throws. He hit his open receivers more than not. He used his legs to perfection. It was a joy to watch, especially since I had zero rooting interest in either team. I just wanted to see a good game, and I was rewarded.

I came away thinking that Aguilar was the better QB. He seemed to be more precise and more sure of himself than a bunch of other QB's I watched in college this season. Maybe it was just the moment and he was living up to it, but that was something Nico didn't do last season and hasn't done yet this year. Aguilar may be a product of the system. Maybe Heupel is a QB whisperer. Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton are both on NFL rosters and they both played their best football under Heupel. Iamalevea looked so much better last season under Heupel's tutelage than he has so far this season. But from what I have seen out of these two QB's that switched teams this offseason, Tennessee got the better end of the deal. Tennessee is still in playoff contention. They are still ranked. They still have most of their goals in front of them. UCLA on the other hand is going through a very tough time. They don't have a win yet this year and it looks like that will be hard to come by for them. Nico is struggling. Recruits are leaving everyday it seems. And it's going to be awhile before they are a college football team worth talking about.

This is an interesting outcome but I'm here for it. I wish it worked out like this a little more often in this new era of college football. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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