Nico Turned a Corner

[TNinSC]

A comparison of Nico versus the other SEC starters at this point in the season.

*Vols- N. Iamaleava (Fr.) – 107/170 – 1413 – 8 td, 4 int
Aub.-P. Thorne (Sr.) – 94/158- 1414 yards – 11 td, 6 int
Mizzou- B. Cook (Sr.) - 130/206- 1545 yards- 7td, 1 int
Ole Miss- J. Dart (Sr.) - 151/215- 2,384 yards- 14td, 3int
Vandy- D. Pavia (Sr.) -102/154 - 1391 yards- 11 td, 1 int
UGA- C. Beck (Sr.) - 165/250 - 1993 yards-15 td, 8 int
UK- B. Vandagriff (Jr.) – 91/158 – 1116 yards – 6td, 4 int
LSU- G. Nussmeier (Jr.) – 183/283 – 2222 yards – 18 td, 6 int
Ala- J. Milroe (Jr.) – 121/177 – 1722 yards- 13 td, 6 int
Tex- Q. Ewers (Jr.) - 103/151 - 1,101 yards- 11td, 4 int
Ark- T. Green (Jr.) - 128/220 - 1.740 yards- 6 td, 6 int
A&M- C. Weigman (So.) – 56/91 – 718 yards- 3td, 4 int
USC- L. Sellers (Fr.) - 88/140- 968 yards- 5 td, 4 int
Miss St.- M. Van Buren Jr.(Fr.) -61/114- 792 yards- 6 td, 2 int
OU- M. Hawkins Jr. (Fr.) -79/138 – 763 yards- 1 td, 3 int

He's thrown for more yards than 7 other sec starters.
More td's and yards than all of the other freshmen starters in the sec.
More td's than seven other sec starters.
Ten out of the sixteen starters in the league are upper classmen.

He's also doing this while sharing the ball with the SEC leading rusher Dylan Sampson: 838 yards and 17 touchdowns!

 

[GoVols64]

A couple of thoughts:
1. We need to be realistic and patient. He is still a young player and will make mistakes.
2. He is seeing things in SEC play for the first time. Windows are smaller, reaction times are faster and defenses show one thing and drop to another.
3. Why do we pick it up in 2nd half? A thought is he is gaining understanding of what the defenses are doing and coaches are adjusting his reads, blocking etc. He is seeing the field better. This will improve with more game reps.

This kid has heart and talent. Even Peyton had a lot of rough games his Freshman year but we all know how that turned out. The fact that we have a defense that can keep us in games is why we are 6-1. This season is already a win and will be unless we drop a game to anyone other than UGA (winnable game). GBO!

 

[Nicovfl8]

Nico started out rough again, then something happened. He got dinged and went out of the game. When he returned, the crowd started chanting “Nico, Nico” and he looked a lot different in a big way. He’s hitting passes and well timed runs. I think he grew up a lot in this game. The O Line stepping up helped as well. Great win!

that's exactly everything I said. One of my buddy's said after he came back from the injury, "He just needed some screws to be tightened and now he can throw accurate!"

 

[VolFanNC09]

I am just hoping with the week off and how the second half ended that the game will start to slow down for him. Missed some really open throws downfield, but finally connected. Had a couple of drops too. Anyway, I am just hoping he has turned the corner.

 

[KingGenius]

He reminds me alot of Dobbs. Redshirt Freshman. Shows promise makes big plays, can really launch it, and a duel threat. We have a Senior QB Moore who followed Coach H from UCF.

Really, we need to see some accuracy, McCoy and Sampson with Squirrel White showing consistency. Way too many dropped deep balls and also inaccuracy on wide open sure TD passes. So we want them confident but realistic in order to improve completion %. Don't be afraid to keep the ball in a run option pass to keep them honest, 10+ yardage easy, must connect to open the run game.

The defense has gotten us here. Must always win the turn over battle, which Nico has not done too bad with.

 

[Vol8188]

The grand narratives y’all are looking for (constantly), aren’t a thing.

There’s a probability than any one throw is off target. He had two big throws he missed in the first half. He made two big throws in the second half. It doesn’t mean he became dramatically different at halftime.

It just means the odds were that he’d eventually hit one

 

[VolAmerican]

Nico started out rough again, then something happened. He got dinged and went out of the game. When he returned, the crowd started chanting “Nico, Nico” and he looked a lot different in a big way. He’s hitting passes and well timed runs. I think he grew up a lot in this game. The O Line stepping up helped as well. Great win!

I agree the OLine protected better, and Nico looked better with accuracy and timing in the second half. His decision making still needs work and also hitting guys down the field. Hopefully that second half carries over through the rest of the games this season.

 

[Ned Ray McWorkher]

He's gaining experience in Southeastern conference football. Talent and skill and practice are great but are not the real thing. SEC football is really a blood sport. Nico is adapting and adjusting to that, like most qb's in their 7th game would.
Some of our fans are veteran complainors, so I can understand how one could think something was really going wrong by the sheer amount of rabble-rousers voicing their negative opinions and theory's under the guise of "telling it like it is", and "calling it like they see it".

 

[VOLociraptorr]

I think he really got dialed in after his 27 yard run in the 3rd quarter.

This. Maybe the staff will use more designed runs to get him going.

I think running gets him going. Oddly enough, it always seemed Joe Milton getting hit early got him going

 

[CAVPUT]

Nico started out rough again, then something happened. He got dinged and went out of the game. When he returned, the crowd started chanting “Nico, Nico” and he looked a lot different in a big way. He’s hitting passes and well timed runs. I think he grew up a lot in this game. The O Line stepping up helped as well. Great win!

Hope so, but we won't really know until he shows it in the next few games.