Nick Saban offers comparison of Joey Aguilar vs. Nico Iamaleava in Tennessee offense

So far, so good. The first two weeks of the Joey Aguilar era at Tennessee have gone extremely well for coach Josh Heupel and the Volunteers.

Aguilar opened his season with a dominant 45-26 win over Syracuse in Atlanta. In that win, he passed for 247 yards and three touchdowns. He then turned that into a 288-yard and two-touchdown performance against East Tennessee State, a game in which Tennessee won 72-17.

His early-season success is even sweeter for fans of big orange, as former quarterback Nico Iamaleava is struggling mightily at UCLA. Through two games, the Bruins are 0-2 and Nico has passed for just 391 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Aguilar, however, will face his first big test this weekend against Georgia. Legendary head coach Nick Saban joined Friday’s edition of ‘The Pat McAfee Show‘ ahead of that game, where he compared Aguilar and Iamaleava in how they conduct/conducted the Tennessee offense.

“I think Josh Heupel does a great job with the offensive team,” Saban said. “And I think Joey Aguilar does a great job at executing the offense. He actually executes the offense, to me, a little better than Nico (Iamaleava) did. Now, Nico’s a better athlete and he can run faster and all that, but when it comes to accuracy and decision making, Joey Aguilar does a really good job. That’s important for Josh Heupel’s offense. Every running play has an RPO or an advantage throw built into it.”

Saban stresses importance of accurate QB in Tennessee’s system

“For the quarterback to throw those accurately is really, really important. They make explosive plays and if they can run the ball against you, it is a real tough day playing against Tennessee. They’re always going to go fast and you’ve got to get their a** off the field on third down or you’re gonna have these long, extended drives where your teams get tired. You’re gonna be at a disadvantage.”

Georgia has won eight consecutive games over Tennessee, dating back to the 2017 season. The Bulldogs have won 13 of the last 15 meetings. That number could have been 14 had the Volunteers not stolen the 2016 game on Josh Dobbs‘ game-winning Hail Mary.

Through two games, Tennessee‘s offense is averaging 605 yards (1st in SEC) and 58.5 points (1st in SEC). Georgia’s defense, meanwhile, is allowing just 201.5 yards (2nd in SEC) and 6.5 points (1st in SEC). The meeting of that Volunteer offense and Georgia‘s stifling defense is sure to make for a classic in Knoxville on Saturday.

Kick-off between the top-15 teams is set for Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ABC.