What Nico Iamaleava said after No. 11 Tennessee's 24-17 win over No. 7 Alabama

Everything Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava and wide receivers Dont’e Thornton and Chris Brazzell said during their press conference after the 11th-ranked Vols rallied in the second half to beat No. 7 Alabama 24-17 Saturday at Neyland Stadium:

Tennessee playing well in the second half, rallying for a win over Alabama

“Yeah man, we had a great message in the locker room. Glad the way our guys came out and played second half. We need to come out and start fast in the first half. Can’t get shut out like that anymore.”

The problems with Tennessee’s offense in the first half

“I missed a shot to Squirrel on the touchdown. I missed him. And I think tha, if I hit that, it gets our offense flowing and we’re feeling a whole different type of way. So I got to be better on that. But I’m proud of the way we bounced back in the second half.”

On his 55-yard competition to Dont’e Thornton in the second half

“We didn’t get the, the certain look we wanted. As I rolled out I seen I still had a one-on-one matchup with (Dont’e) and I trusted him to go make that play.”

His confidence staying high in his receivers after drops

“Yeah man, shoot, I’m trusting my guys every time. It doesn’t matter if they had a drop or not. I still got the utmost confidence for our guys to go out there and get it done. I trust I guy to go out there and make that play.”

The play he was injured on in the first half, if it bothered him the rest of the game

“I was good, man. I think I needed it. It woke me up a little bit for sure.”

His long run early in the second half, if Tennessee was looking for him to run more

“Shoot, it was big man. I was kind of just letting the game come to me. I wasn’t trying to force running a ball. But if I did get that look to where I got pressure and I had to step up, I had to go make a play.”

What it says about this Tennessee team to not play its best offense, but lean on a tough defense and get wins over Florida and Alabama

“Everything, man. We got a tight locker room. I think we really came together even tighter after our Arkansas game. So I think our bond just has been strong through all throughout. We’ve been working since January, so it’s been been a tight brotherhood since then.” 

If he would like to incorporate more quarterback runs during the second half of the season

“Yeah man, I love running the ball. Whatever Coach Heup calls though, I’m going to run, for sure.”

The celebration in the locker room

“It was a great time. I couldn’t get to my locker to take my stuff off. But yeah, it was a great time in that locker room for sure.”

What he’s thinking after struggling early in the game, what he’s telling himself to turn his play around

“Next play mentality. Like Chris 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.”

Tennessee’s defensive performance

“Those guys are our backbone and we’re going to continue to lean on them. We got to put up a better performance and not have them on their heels the whole game, for sure.” 

The play of Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson

“Yeah, D-Samp is a dog, man. Continues to be a dog. Whenever I hand the ball off, I feel like he’s going to go score, so it’s good to have that confidence in a guy like that, for sure.”

If he understands the significance of being the Tennessee quarterback that beats Florida and Alabama 

“Kind of, yeah. Man, shoot. I know it’s a big game for our fans. Big game for our community. And yeah man, I’m super glad went out there and got it done, for sure.”

If it resonates with the players what these kinds of Tennessee wins mean for the community and the university

“Yeah, for sure man. All the VFLs, legends that came back, definitely just made us want to go get it done more for even for them. So I know a lot of guys, we’ve been struggling with these two teams and I’m so super glad we got this one.”

Tennessee wide receiver Chris Brazzell

His touchdown catch in the fourth quarter to put Tennessee ahead for good

“We got a play call that moved me in the slot. I went to the slot, kind of liked that matchup with the safety. They were playing man, I ran my route, caught the ball. 

What he thought about the pass from Nico Iamaleava

“Great ball.”

What gave him the confidence he was going to catch the touchdown after having some drops

“Next play mentality. Stuff happens in the game. You got to move on with it.”

Where that touchdown catch compares to any other catch in his career 

“Probably number one, for sure. Just it being Bama, first time playing Bama. That’s special for sure.”

Tennessee wide receiver Dont’e Thornton 

His 55-yard catch down the Tennessee sideline in the second half

“That’s one of the plays I feel like this whole week we’ve been working on heavy. And looking at the film, we talked about this is one of the plays that we felt was going to hit. And even though like the look wasn’t exact from what we’ve been practicing all week, Nico has a lot of confidence in all his receivers. So it was one of the moments where we felt like we needed to make a play and he took the shot and that’s what happened.”

The play of Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson

“I feel like D-Samp is one of the best running backs in the nation. And knowing that I have D-Samp in the back of running the ball, every time out there is a run play, it makes me want play even harder for him because I know that if we ain’t got things going, D-Samp will get the ball in his hands and make something happen. So I just go out there and play hard for him.” 

If it resonates with the players what these kinds of Tennessee wins mean for the community and the university

“I would say the thing that resonate with me the most is when all the VFLs come back. And it might be halftime, like halftime the other day I was talking to Dante Stallworth about the game. And just seeing that how dedicated those guys (are). who came from the past, who were coming back now and play the same exact games, it makes me for sure want to play harder because I know that they’re looking at us and we have to show them like we going make them proud. So it definitely sit with me good.”

Facing Jermod McCoy in Tennessee’s practices and when he realized he was an elite corner

“I’d say I found out Jermod was elite when he got here in the spring, for sure. Like I knew from the moment he got here he was going to be a playmaker for us.”