The Citrus Bowl won't be a 'tune-up game' for Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava in first career start

There will no tip-toeing into big-time college football for Nico Iamaleava when he makes his first career start for No. 21 Tennessee against No. 17 Iowa in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on Monday. 

The five-star freshman will dive headfirst into the deep end against a Hawkeye defense that is fourth in the country in scoring defense, giving up just 13.2 points per game, and fifth in total defense, allowing just 274.8 yards per game.

“It’s not a tune-up game for a starter,” Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said during his press conference Friday morning in Orlando. “This is a kid making his first start against one of the best defenses on all of college football, but I don’t think you can go into it thinking differently. 

“You gotta take what’s there. Whatever they’re presenting to us, you got to take advantage of it.”

‘Football is still football at the end of the day’

Iamaleava appeared in four games during the regular season, completing 16 of 26 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown. He ran five times for 48 yards.

His most extensive time on the field came during the 59-3 win over UConn on Homecoming in November, when he completed 5 of 9 passes for 86 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end McCallan Castles, and ran once for 25 yards. 

Now he’ll get four quarters against an Iowa defense that has allowed just 15 total touchdowns in 13 games this season, third lowest of any defense in college football. 

Penn State scored 31 points in a shutout win over Iowa in September and Michigan won 26-0 against the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten championship game on December 3, but not other team scored more than 16 points against Iowa.

Halzle said Tennessee on Monday will still have to try to do all the stuff Tennessee’s offense has traditionally done under Josh Heupel, regardless of Iamaleava’s lack of experience at quarterback.

“You’re still going to have to push the ball down the field,” he said. “You’re going to have to take check downs when they’re presented. We’ll have to run the football well. So football is still football at the end of the game. 

“We gotta block well. We gotta tackle well. We gotta catch and throw. We gotta do all that type of stuff.”

No. 21 Tennessee vs. No. 17 Iowa, Citrus Bowl, Monday, 1 p.m. ET, ABC

More than anything, Halzle continued, Iamaleava has to “manage the game.” 

“He’s gotta understand situational football,” Halzle explained, “when to take the risk, when not t0, all of that. When to scramble. When is a throwaway a good thing? When an incompletion is a positive. All of those type of thoughts for a young quarterback.”

The good news for Iamaleava is he’s not your typical freshman. Halzle described him as having a maturity level well beyond his years, something that the Vols have seen since he arrived on campus last December as the No. 1 overall player in the On3 recruiting rankings for the 2023 class.

“When someone comes in as highly touted as he was,” Halzle said, “a lot of times they feel like they’re finished products. He wasn’t. He wanted to come in and be like, alright, what do I need to do to take my physical game to the next level as well?

“He came in, was completely open with tinkering with the mechanics, his lower body, all of that. And that’s why I think he’s made the growth that he has and that’s why I think that the guys out there with him have the confidence that he’ll go perform at a high level when he’s called upon.”

That time is now.

“I think he’s prepared well,” Halzle said. “I think he’s ready to go.”