Georgia coach Kirby Smart assumes injured Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava will play Saturday unless he's listed as out on the SEC student-athlete availability report.

The first SEC availability report will be released at 8:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday. How Tennessee designates Iamaleava, who is in concussion protocol, could have an impact on the College Football Playoff race.

On the SEC coaches teleconference on Wednesday morning, Smart was asked if he accepts the status listed of an opposing player on that injury report as fact.

"It depends on the team," Smart said. "But honestly, I don't pay much attention to it. I mean, I look at it and see it. But there's not a lot of control you have over that, right? So when it comes out, it doesn't matter if you're skeptical of it or not. You've got to prepare your team to play.

"Teams we play in the SEC, they have capable backups. So once you're in the probable (or) questionable area, you know there's a chance they could play. So that's what you go with."

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

On Tuesday, a source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to Knox News that Iamaleava is in concussion protocol but his status for the Georgia game had not been determined. The source requested anonymity because no official announcement has been made.

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But Iamaleava participated in team activities and meetings on Monday, which Heupel acknowledged at his weekly press conference. And Iamaleava practiced with the team on Tuesday.

The SEC availability report will be released at 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday, and then updated on Thursday, Friday and 90 minutes before kickoff on Saturday.

Teams designate players on the report as probable, questionable, doubtful or out. On game day, they can also be designated as a game-time decision.

If a player does not travel with the team for a road game, he must be listed as out on the report released Friday night, per SEC policy.

If not Nico, backup Gaston Moore would start

Iamaleava struggled early in SEC play, but he had played his best football since the second half of a win over Alabama on Oct. 19. He has completed 65% of his passes for 1,879 yards, 11 TDs and four interceptions in his redshirt freshman season.

If Iamaleava is out, backup quarterback Gaston Moore would get the start.

Moore, a walk-on and fifth-year senior, played sparingly until this season. He is 16-of-25 passing for 201 yards, two TDs and two interceptions in 2024. Moore has spent his entire career in Heupel’s offense, including 2020 at UCF and the past four seasons at UT.

Freshman Jake Merklinger is the No. 3 quarterback. The former four-star recruit is 6-of-9 passing for 48 yards this season.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Nico Iamaleava update: Kirby Smart on SEC injury report from Tennessee