Josh Heupel breaks down Nico Iamaleava’s Tennessee debut

In an otherwise uneventful domination of Virginia in the season opener on Saturday, Tennessee got a glimpse of the quarterback of the future, as true freshman Nico Iamaleava played some second-half reps. After the performance, head coach Josh Heupel evaluated what he saw in Iamaleava’s first live action.

Overall, Heupel was happy. It’s a small sample size overall, but he saw a lot of good things to build on from Iamaleava.

“Same things that we’ve seen. Really calm, cool. Good demeanor. Able to communicate, handle all the pre-snap stuff the right way, get his eyes in the right place. I thought [he] showed some athleticism. I love the feel in the pocket, being able to step up and get out of it and go make a play with his feet,” Heupel said. “He’s athletic enough to be used in the run game and escape the pocket.”

Iamaleava attempted just three passes, completing two for 11 yards. He also carried once for eight yards, flashing the ability to scoot out of the pocket that Heupel noted.

Even his lone incompletion showed some of the athleticism and playmaking potential Iamaleava has, Heupel said.

“And I thought some of the run-pass stuff he did a good job and made an athletic throw, didn’t complete it, but throwing across his body on a little slant route that ended up not being completed. But all-in-all, really solid performance from him,” Heupel said.

Playing in Nashville, Tennessee drew a record crowd

Tennessee started to pour it on in the second half against Virginia on Saturday afternoon in Nashville. Nissan Stadium — the home of the Tennessee Titans — was completely sold out for the game and it showed on the television broadcast, as a sea of Volunteer Orange flooded the stadium.

It turns out Tennessee fans were part of a record crowd for the event, 69,507 total fans. It was the largest crowd yet in Nissan Stadium for a sporting event.

Did it big in our state's capital pic.twitter.com/Eq5VrtVVei

— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) September 2, 2023

Tennessee overwhelmed the Cavaliers in the second half and really started to pile on the points in a 49-13 beatdown. The Virginia defense gave the Volunteers plenty of problems in the first half, but the Cavaliers’ offensive line struggled mightily throughout the game. Starting quarterback Tony Muskett injured his left shoulder in the second half.

Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton III threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more in the blowout victory. The Volunteers racked up 491 total yards of offense.

A good chunk of that came on the ground, as Tennessee racked up 279 rushing yards in the win. Jaylen Wright racked up 115 rushing yards on 12 carries. Dylan Sampson had three touchdowns on the ground for the Vols in the blowout.