What Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava said after throwing for 3 TDs in 69-3 win over Chattanooga
Nico Iamaleava set a new Tennessee Football program record with 314 passing yards in the first half Saturday against Chattanooga, completing 22 of his 28 pass attempts and throwing for three touchdowns. The redshirt freshman didn’t play in the second half, while the Vols cruised to a 69-3 win over the Mocs in his first career start at Neyland Stadium.
Here’s everything Iamaleava said during his press conference after the game:
How he felt he played in his first career start at Neyland Stadium
“Yeah, I felt great man. Just going out there competing with my guys. We put a lot of work into it for this year. So it felt good to go out there and display what we’ve been working on.”
Tennessee WR Dont’e Thornton catching three passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns
“You could just see how much more comfortable Dont’e got with this offense, man. Just his first year going into last year, still figuring things out. I feel like he was dialed in this whole fall camp, spring camp. He’s been great. Great work that he’s put in and he went out there and showed it on the field today.”
How he would critique his performance against Chattanooga
“I thought I didn’t finish the second quarter well. I can finish better with just operating the offense at a high level. And really I think that was the main thing for me, was not falling asleep during while we’re up big. And still going out there and operating the offense at a high level.”
If he knew he set a Tennessee record for passing yards in a first half, with 314
“Yeah, I didn’t know. A couple of my teammates were telling me and then the little interview I had at the end of the game was really when I found out. And yeah, man, it was a cool, surreal moment. I I didn’t even know about it, but it felt good to go out there and operate with my teammates.”
What Tennessee can learn from a game that it led 38-0 after 20 minutes
“Shoot, to keep our foot on their throat when we go up big. I think still coming to the sideline with the same mindset that (the score is) 0-0 and just carrying that out (for) the full game, full four quarters, like Coach Heup says.”
What he saw from Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson (12 rushes, 124 yards, 3 TDs)
“Yeah, it felt great seeing Samp out there. He was limited in fall camp, in spring, so just seeing him out there doing his thing, it felt good man. We didn’t really get to see too much of it during camp, so yeah man, Samp has always been Samp. And you guys see what he does when he gets the ball in his hands.”
