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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Tennessee football fans were in disbelief when quarterback Nico Iamaleava inexplicably ran out of bounds after time expired to seal a 19-14 shocking loss to Arkansas on Saturday.
And they all had the same thought: I can’t believe it happened again.
In 2021, UT quarterback Joe Milton ran out of bounds rather than attempt a pass into the end zone on the final play of a 31-26 loss to Ole Miss.
“(It was) a different situation,” coach Josh Heupel said after the loss when asked why that specific mistake has happened twice. “Older quarterback versus first (year) guy experience.”
That’s probably not the explanation that UT fans want to hear. But none would’ve been satisfactory after the No. 4 Vols (4-1, 1-1 SEC) had such a lackluster performance against the Razorbacks (4-2, 2-1).
It’s three years too late to try to make sense of Milton’s mistake.
But why did Iamaleava commit the same baffling error?
ADAMS: Bad decision-making by Josh Heupel, Nico Iamaleava doom Tennessee
Nico Iamaleava’s account of final play
There were six seconds remaining when UT snapped the ball from the Arkansas 20-yard line.
And after Iamaleava scrambled, it was clear that the clock had expired. Yet he kept running to his right, never attempted a pass and then ran out of bounds to finish the game.
After the loss, the redshirt freshman tried to explain his mistake.
“As I rolled out, I saw (Dont’e Thornton) coming open. But if I threw that ball, it was going to be batted down right away,” Iamaleava said. “So I tried to let Chris Brazzell work a little bit, and he was covered at the time.
“As soon as I was trying to let the ball go, I felt it slipping in my hand. I’ve got to do a better job of holding the ball.”
So Iamaleava was trying to find an open receiver rather than just any receiver. And when he finally…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-nico-iamaleava-ran-bounds-045334012.html
Author : Knox News | The Knoxville News-Sentinel
Publish date : 2024-10-06 04:53:34
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