Nick Saban explains how Tennessee's pace could help Nico Iamaleava vs. hostile Oklahoma crowd

Nico Iamaleava will start in the first true road environment of his collegiate career this weekend when No. 6 Tennessee kicks off in Norman against No. 15 Oklahoma. That makes it all the more important for him to have the proper preparation per Nick Saban.

Saban spoke about having a young quarterback ready for a road environment while on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Friday. He says that it’s on coaches to provide them with what they need for the stadium to not overwhelm them.

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“Well, I think the most important thing with the young quarterback is make sure you’ve put him in a situation in practice where he’s had to deal with the noise,” said Saban. “Explain to him exactly what he’s getting into. If he makes a few mistakes early in the game, don’t let it affect you because you don’t want it to affect him.”

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However, with how the Volunteers play anyways, it’ll negate some of that already according to Saban. Iamaleava won’t have to listen too closely considering how they call plays and how quickly their operation runs.

“These teams that go fast? I think they’re not really, you know, counting on the cadence, you know, that much early on,” Saban explained. “I do think it’s a little easier for a quarterback to transition to noise when you’re trying to do fastball. So maybe that’s what they have Nico prepared for in this game.”

Iamaleava has been fantastic for the first three real starts of his career. In those outings, he is 48-67 (71.6%) for 698 yards, six touchdowns, and a pair of interceptions. He has also run for 102 yards and a score at six yards a carry.

With him running their offense, the Vols are right back to being one of the top units in the country. They’re No. 1 in the nation in scoring at 63.7 points per game for a total of 191 points. They’re also second in yards per game with 639.3 at a total of 1,918 yards overall.

This could be a lot for some players. This game is away, it’s the league opener, and it’s a Top-15 matchup in primetime. That’s not even mentioning everything else that’s coming with this specific game on Saturday

Nico could be just fine, though, with what he’ll have available to him tomorrow at OU.

Saban dishes on challenges that Josh Heupel faces in return to Norman

Josh Heupel, who quarterbacked Oklahoma to a national championship in 2000 but who they ultimately fired after being their co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, is now making his return to Norman as the head coach of Tennessee. Now, his Volunteers will face the the Sooners, who are led by Brent Venables, the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for that title-winning squad for OU.

Nick Saban joined ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Friday and shared his thoughts on Heupel’s return to Norman.

“Well, I’m sure that I’ve been in situations where I’ve been fired before and went back and played in those situations. Or left and had to go back in those situations,” Saban said. “I think to you, maybe personally, there’s something there. But the number one thing you want to do for your team is not let that impact your team.”

“You want your team to stay focused on what they need to do to play well in the game and not worry about those kind of external factors in terms of their emotions,” Saban said.