Tennessee‘s early success during the 2024 season has been largely attributed to the play of redshirt freshman Nico Iamaleava on offense and the Vols’ defensive front seven.

The early Tennessee fireworks have caught the eye of On3’s J.D. PicKell, who recently ranked the Volunteers in the ‘bubble central’ portion of his College Football Playoff tier list. It’s the second tier behind the playoff penthouse.

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“It’s one thing to see the offense hum, like we all felt pretty good about Nico Iamaleava,” PicKell told Paul Finebaum on Wednesday. “I think he’s the most physically gifted quarterback they’ve ever had in Knoxville. Not the best, but most physically gifted. [But their] defense — I think that’s an outfit now that under Josh Heupel has looked the best it’s ever looked at 13 tackles for a loss, led by James Pearce. They’re going to be a force in that front seven.

“And if you got the price of admission in the front seven to the SEC, you know, this as well as anybody Paul, you’re gonna be a tough out. You pair that offense with that what looks to be a now elite tier-ish defense. I cannot wait for them to go to Oklahoma so we can get a better gauge for what, Nico is overall in that big spot but I mean so far so good for the Vols. I think they’re a playoff team.

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The numbers back PicKell’s claims.

In two games, Tennessee has outscored their opposition by 107 points, and the Vols have pieced together 1,188 yards of offense compared to their defense allowing just 370. That includes giving up 143 yards (39 rushing yards) to a ranked Wolfpack squad during the team’s 51-10 win on Saturday.

Defensively, they haven’t allowed a touchdown, either. Not to mention they’ve scored 120 points offensively in two games behind the arm of their bluechip redshirt freshman quarterback. High expectations have been set for the rest of the season in Knoxville as a potential playoff berth looms.

Tennessee will continue to look its winning ways against Kent State on Saturday. Kickoff inside Neyland Stadium is set for 7:45 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network. The Sooners await their arrival in Norman for Week 4.