Nico Iamaleava reacts to setting Tennessee record for passing yards in a half

Nico Iamaleava is still early in his career at Tennessee, but he is already breaking school records. The redshirt freshman threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns all before halftime on Saturday against Chattanooga.

That broke the previous mark for most passing yards in a single half by a Volunteers player. The result was a dominant 69-3 victory that saw Iamaleava rest for the entire second half.

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The quarterback didn’t even realize he had broken the record until his postgame interview, and offered his thoughts on the moment.

“I didn’t know. A couple of my teammates were telling me and then the interview I had at the end of the game was really when I found out,” he said. “It’s a cool, surreal moment. I didn’t even know about it, but it felt good to go out there and operate with my teammates.”

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The offense was clicking from the get go as Iamaleava completed all three of his passes on the opening drive, which running back Dylan Sampson capped off with a touchdown. Tennessee would go on to score on its first seven drives before finally being forced to punt.

Iamaleava would throw his first touchdown on the second drive of the game, a four-yard connection with Ethan Davis. He continued to look efficient all afternoon long, completing 78.5% of his passes and finishing with a QBR of 82.7.

“I thought the first drive, I thought we settled in pretty well,” Iamaleava said. “Once we got on our tempo, I thought we started rolling. It felt good after that first drive, for sure.”

The quarterback had a solid connection with receiver Dont’e Thornton Jr. He caught two of the three touchdown passes that Iamaleava threw, including a laser over the middle in the first quarter.

The pair later hooked up again early in the second quarter as Iamaleava again found his receiver in the end zone. Thornton finished the game with three catches for 105 yards.

“It just starts with our preparation,” Iamaleava said. “Practice, we’re getting a lot of those same looks. We got out here in the game and we’re just having fun. I think it all clicked from practice and carrying that over to the game.”

It was about as good of a start to the season as you could ask for, but the Vols know things will get much tougher next week against No. 24 NC State. Still, for now Iamaleava will celebrate the victory and the record before getting back to work on Monday.

“It felt great,” he said. “It was good seeing all our fans again. First home opener and it felt good to go out there and compete with my teammates.”