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Nico Iamaleava, Dont'e Thornton available to play for Tennessee vs Georgia

adam sparks, knoxville news sentinel
·2 min read

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava is no longer on the SEC injury report after being cleared to play in the Georgia game on Saturday.

The Vols quarterback was medically cleared and met all benchmarks to be available against the Bulldogs, a source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to Knox News on Friday. The redshirt freshman quarterback was in concussion protocol following an injury in UT's 33-14 win against Mississippi State, a source confirmed to Knox News' Adam Sparks on Tuesday.

Wide receiver Dont'e Thornton was also not on the SEC student-availability report on Friday after being listed as questionable on Wednesday and Thursday.

That means Iamaleava will have his top target available against Georgia. Thornton leads UT with 505 yards receiving and four TDs.

The final injury report will be released 90 minutes before kickoff on Saturday.

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.

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

Tennessee injury report

Georgia injury report

  • RB Roderick Robinson (out)

  • RB Branson Robinson (out)

  • DL Joseph Jonah-Ajonye (out)

  • RB Trevor Etienne (out)

  • WR Anthony Evans (questionable)

  • RB Cash Jones (questionable)

  • OL Micah Morris (questionable)

How SEC availability report works

The SEC student-athlete availability report was introduced this season for conference games only.

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

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

Here’s what those designations mean:

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

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

• Questionable: Uncertain to play, 50% chance to play.

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

Per the 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, suspension, ineligibility or personal matter), it must report it.

Failure to do so will subject schools to potential penalties ranging from $25,000 for a first offense to $100,000 for a third and further offenses.

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 Dont'e Thornton injury update: Tennessee duo available vs Georgia