Dave Doeren raves over Nico Iamaleava ahead of NC State's matchup with Tennessee

Tennessee and NC State will square off in Charlotte, North Carolina at Bank of America Stadium for one of the most exciting matchups of Week 2. Featuring two ranked teams that will be looking to secure a signature non-conference win early in the season.

All eyes will be on Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava, the former five-star prospect who’s now been handed the keys to the Volunteers’ high-powered offense. And on Monday, NC State head coach Dave Doeren gave the redshirt freshman some high praise ahead of the game.

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“Their quarterback, man is he talented, he’s fun to watch,” Doeren admitted at his press conference. “His first college start in their bowl game, he rushed for three touchdowns. Saturday he was completing every ball, throwing accurate, on time. Shows touch, shows arm strength, shows mobility. His running backs run really hard, they protect well, he’s got a veteran o-line, and a deep, fast receiver group that has a lot of different varieties in it. So it’s a great challenge, great opportunity that way.

Iamaleava has NFL potential written all over him, leading the Vols to an impressive 35-0 win over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl last season in his first career start. Only playing in the first half of Tennessee’s season opener where he threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns. Which does not give Doeren and the Wolfpack much film to evaluate on the young star.

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“You’re kind of leaning on the Iowa game for some of it. You look at their spring game knowing that that’s DNA and kind of vanilla, and then you have the opener and he only really played a half of football. But you can watch Coach [Josh] Heupel‘s offense for a long time and see what it is and the players within it, obviously, are going to be what makes it go. But the scheme itself hasn’t changed a lot over the years. It’s just the guys that are playing in it and what they’re capable of doing,” Doeren explained.

Heupel’s offense is undoubtedly dynamic, a unit that led the SEC in rushing last season and in passing the previous year. Showing the ability to adapt and make things challenging for players on all three levels of the defense.

Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton helped lead the offense to success in the past, but with Iamaleava, there’s no question that the unit could flourish in an unprecedented way. Presenting a potential big-time challenge for NC State especially considering that lack of scouting that can be done on the talented passer.

“But it’s Week 2, and Week 2 in a game where they only played 50% of the game with their starters. So there’s going to be some adjusting, there’s going to be some unknowns, and that’s just how it is, and it’s going to be the same for them with us,” Doeren said. “Our offense is going to evolve too as the season goes on, from Week 1 to Week 2 in particular.”

“So that’s part of the coaching. You get on that sideline and now you have the iPads, you see what they’re doing, and our guys got to do a great job within the game of winning their one on ones, tackling, and using the rules and tools of each side of the ball to adjust the things that we didn’t practice.”

NC State and Tennessee kick off this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET in a primetime matchup airing on ABC.