Tennessee QB cleared to play against Georgia

On By Littum

ATHENS, Ga. — Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava and wide receiver Dont’e Thornton are available to play in tonight’s game against Georgia after being medically cleared.

There are no surprises on the final SEC student-athlete availability report, which was released 90 minutes before kickoff on Saturday.

Iamaleava, who was in concussion protocol, met all benchmarks to play against the Bulldogs, a source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to Knox News on Friday. He left with the injury midway through UT’s 33-14 win over Mississippi State last week.

Wide receiver Dont’e Thornton leads UT with 505 yards receiving and four TDs.

No. 7 Tennessee (8-1, 5-1 SEC) plays No. 12 Georgia (7-2, 5-2) at 7:30 PM ET on ABC at Sanford Stadium.

Here is the SEC student-athlete availability report for Tennessee and Georgia players.

Damage report in Tennessee

Damage report in Georgia

  • RB Roderick Robinson (out)
  • RB Branson Robinson (out)
  • DL Joseph Jonah-Ajonye (out)
  • RB Trevor Etienne (out)
  • WR Anthony Evans (doubtful)
  • RB Cash Jones (doubtful)
  • OL Micah Morris (doubtful)

How the SEC Availability Report Works

The SEC Student-Athlete Availability Report was introduced this season for conference play only.

The first report is released on the Wednesday night of an SEC game week, with daily updates leading to a final report 90 minutes before kickoff of a Saturday game.

Prior to game day, players are designated by their school as available, probable, questionable, questionable or out for the upcoming game. On game day, they are designated as available, match time decision or out.

Here’s what these designations mean:

• Out: Will not play, 0% chance to play.

• Doubtful: Unlikely to play, 25% chance to play.

• Doubtful: Unsafe to play, 50% chance to play.

• Likely: Likely to play, 75% chance to play.

Under SEC policy, schools must accurately designate players’ participation status. If the school has knowledge that a player may not be able to participate in the upcoming game for any reason (injury, illness, exclusion, suspension or personal circumstances), it must notify it.

Failure to do so would expose schools to potential penalties ranging from $25,000 for a first offense to $100,000 for a third and additional offenses.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. E-mail [email protected]. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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