Nico Iamaleava will lead Tennessee in its biggest game in more than 25 years on Saturday.

In his first season as the Vols' starting quarterback, Iamaleava has at times looked the part of the highly-touted five star prospect that was expected to headline Josh Heupel's offense, while also looking like a redshirt freshman with limited game experience.

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Iamaleava has undoubtedly grown up since his first career stater--a four touchdown performance in Tennessee's 35-0 romp of Iowa in the Citrus Bowl last January. Since then, he has led the No. 9 Vols (10-2) to come-from-behind wins over Florida and Alabama and has them in the College Football Playoff for the first time ever where they will face No. 8 Ohio State (10-2) on Saturday at Ohio Stadium in Columbus (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN).

That growth hasn't gone unnoticed and even has some pundits looking ahead to Iamaleava's prospects for 2025.

Hours after Colorado's Travis Hunter was named the best player in college football in 2024 by winning the Heisman Trophy, ESPN released its "way-too-early" contenders for the award next season. That list included Iamaleava, who passed for 2,512 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions during the regular season.

"Tennessee fans got a glimpse of Iamaleava when he accounted for four touchdowns in last season's 35-0 victory over Iowa in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl," ESPN's Mark Schlabach wrote. "He was the first Vols freshman quarterback to win a bowl game since Peyton Manning in the 1994 Gator Bowl. This season, Iamaleava completed 65.7% of his attempts for 2,512 yards with 19 touchdowns and five interceptions.

"He's 11-2 as a starter. If Iamaleava progresses as expected, the former five-star recruit could be a Heisman contender in 2025."

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Other SEC players that were included on the list and that Tennessee will face next season were Florida quarterback DJ Lagway, Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams and Georgia running back Nate Frazier.

Iamaleava could get a jump-start in his potential 2025 Heisman campaign in the weeks ahead, starting with its game against the Buckeyes to keep Tennessee's season alive.

The Vols are nearly a touchdown underdog on the road in their playoff debut, but continued improvement from the offense that showed in the last couple of weeks of the regular season shows up again in Columbus, it could go a long way in punching their ticket to a quarterfinal bout with No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.

That hinges on Iamaleava, of course. He is coming off of one of his best performances of his young career in Tennessee's 36-23 triumph of Vanderbilt late last month. He was 18-of-26 passing for 257 yards and four scores to clinch the Vols' playoff berth.

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