Nico Iamaleava explains mindset in bounce-back half vs. Alabama

In Tennessee‘s 24-17 win over Alabama on Saturday, Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava showed off his resiliency following a lackluster first half. After the win, Iamaleava revealed his mindset entering the second half.

“Next play mentality,” Iamaleava said. “Coach Heup, that’s something he’s always preaches. Man, it’s not going the way we wanted in the first half. And we got to keep battling, keep going strong for our guys. Like I said, I’m glad the way we came out in the second half.”

It was a slow start for Iamaleava, who only completed 7-of-his-14 pass attempts in the first half and threw a detrimental interception in the red zone. While Iamaleava didn’t necessarily hit on all cylinders in the second half with his passes either, he ran Tennessee’s offense like a well-oiled machine.

The Volunteers tallied 265 total yards of offense in the second half compared to just 143 yards in the first. Further, Tennessee didn’t commit any more turnovers, either on the ground or through the air.

Tennessee found answers when it needed them in the back half of the game, converting on 5-of-its-9 third-down attempts. In comparison, Alabama failed to convert any of its five third-down attempts in the second half.

After the game, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel praised Iamaleava for his mindset in the second half.

“Young quarterback. It’s going to continue to get better,” Heupel said. “Guys around him got to help him too. And that means just doing their job at a really high level. But to me, quarterbacks, it’s toughness. It’s mental toughness.

“When it matters the most, how do you perform? And how do you control the game? And there’s a lot of things, just physical, mental toughness that I really liked tonight. Obviously, there’s some things we got to get better at and him too. We’ll keep pushing for that.”

Nico Iamaleava showed not only mental but also physical toughness in the win. After absorbing a brutal hit from Alabama’s Justin Jefferson, Iamaleava briefly exited the game with an injury. Backup quarterback Gaston Moore replaced Iamaleava and threw an interception on his first play in the game.

Iamaleava’s left hip was reportedly bothering him after the collision but the redshirt freshman pushed through the pain and returned to the game on the next drive. Iamaleava will have a chance to recover from his injury this week as Tennessee enjoys a bye.

The Volunteers will be back at it on Nov. 2 when they square off against Kentucky.