Holy shit, what an absolute disaster.

Joey Aguilar is out here throwing absolute DIMES for Tennessee, torching Georgia for 300+ yards and four touchdowns like it’s a Tuesday practice, while Nico Iamaleava is probably updating his LinkedIn after watching UCLA’s season go down in flames faster than a frat house on game day.

UCLA just canned DeShaun Foster’s ass after going 0-3, and honestly? Good. The guy coached like he was still trying to figure out what a playbook was. But let’s talk about the real story here: Nico thought he could just bounce from Tennessee, skip all the competition, and waltz into Westwood like some conquering hero. Instead, he helped lead UCLA to getting absolutely skull-dragged by NEW MEXICO. At home. 35-10.

NEW. MEXICO.

I cannot stress this enough: this is the same New Mexico that loses to teams you’ve never heard of. And they boat-raced UCLA like they were playing a high school JV squad.

Meanwhile, back in Knoxville, Joey Aguilar is absolutely FEASTING. This dude just won Manning Award quarterback of the week after carving up Syracuse for 247 yards and three touchdowns. Against Georgia, he threw for over 300 yards and four TDs against one of the nastiest defenses in college football. You know what that’s called? That’s called having balls the size of church bells and the arm to back it up.

But here’s where this gets really spicy. Nico saw Joey coming to Tennessee and basically said “nah, I’m good” and transferred faster than a college kid running from responsibility. The kid couldn’t handle a little competition, so he ran to UCLA thinking they’d just hand him the keys to the kingdom.

Plot twist: the kingdom was already on fire.

DeShaun Foster was coaching like he was still figuring out what sport they were playing. The man had no business running a Wendy’s, let alone a major college football program. UCLA fans were ready to storm the field with pitchforks after Nico’s debut turned into a 43-10 ass-kicking by Utah. That’s not a game, that’s a public execution.

And now look at this beautiful disaster. UCLA is the laughingstock of college football, Foster is probably applying to coach high school somewhere, and Nico is sitting there wondering how he went from potentially playing for SEC championships to getting dunked on by teams that most people couldn’t find on a map.

Joey Aguilar? This man is living his absolute best life. Over 3,000 career passing yards, 23 touchdowns, and he’s just getting warmed up in Josh Heupel’s system. The guy came to Tennessee ready to WORK. No guarantees, no promises, just pure “I’m going to earn this shit” energy.

This is exactly why the transfer portal can be a total minefield. Everyone’s looking for the easy button, the shortcut to success. Nico had everything at Tennessee: proven system, elite receivers, coaches who actually know how to develop quarterbacks. But instead of grinding it out and competing like a man, he chose the path of least resistance.

How’d that work out, chief?

Tennessee absolutely dodged a bullet here. They got a quarterback who wants to compete and win championships instead of one who runs at the first sign of adversity. UCLA learned that desperate programs make desperate decisions, and sometimes those decisions blow up in your face like a poorly mixed cocktail.

The moral of the story? Sometimes chasing the biggest NIL deal ends up costing you way more than you bargained for. Joey Aguilar understood that success comes from outworking everyone else and building something special, not from cashing the biggest check. Nico learned that money without a good situation around you is just expensive misery.

And honestly? Good for Joey, good for Tennessee, and good riddance to everyone who thought they could take shortcuts to greatness. College football is better when the players who actually want to compete are the ones getting the spotlight.e who thought they could take shortcuts to greatness. College football is better when the players who actually want to compete are the ones getting the spotlight.