Nico Iamaleava was 'really calm, cool' while making his Tennessee debut
NASHVILLE — What Josh Heupel saw from Nico Iamaleava is what the head coach is getting used to seeing from his five-star freshman quarterback. Even if it was just in mop-up duty in No. 12 Tennessee’s 49-13 win over Virginia Saturday at Nissan Stadium.
“Same things that we’ve seen,” Heupel said during his postgame press conference. “Really calm, cool. Good demeanor, able to communicate, handled all the pre-snap stuff the right way. Gets his eyes in the right place.”
Iamaleava made his official debut with 12:46 left in the fourth quarter, with the Vols leading 42-10. Joe Milton III completed 21 of 30 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns before handing the keys over to Iamaleava.
‘I thought (he) showed some athleticism. I love the feel in the pocket.’
On his first snap, Iamaleava handed off to sophomore running back Dylan Sampson for a six yard gain. Iamaleava ran for eight yards on the next play and Sampson ran for 11 more on the third play of the possession.
Iamaleava threw incomplete to redshirt freshman receiver Kaleb Webb in the end zone on his first pass attempt, then completed a pass to Webbs for six yards on the next play. Sampson went the final nine yards over the last two plays of the drive, scoring from three yards out to make it a 49-10 lead.
On his second drive, Iamaleava threw to Webb again for five yards. Freshman Cameron Seldon ran for two yards on back-to-back plays and the Vols had to punt.
“I thought (he) showed some athleticism,” Heupel said of Iamaleava. “I love the feel in the pocket, being able to step up and get out of it and go make a play with his feet. He’s athletic enough to be using the run game and escape the pocket.
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“And I thought some of the run-pass stuff, he did a good job. A big, athletic throw, didn’t complete it, but throw across his body on a little slight route that ended up not being completed. But all in all, really solid performance from him.”
Milton ran for two touchdowns, rushing nine times for 33 yards on the day. He threw an 11-yard touchdown to tight end Jacob Warren early in the fourth quarter and opened the scoring with a nine-yard touchdown to Sampson early in the first quarter.
Nico Iamaleava: 5-star QB, No. 1 prospect in 2023 recruiting class
Iamaleava headlined Tennessee’s 2023 recruiting class, signing with the Vols as the No. 1 overall player in the On3 ratings, committing to the Vols out of Long Beach, Calif. He enrolled on campus in Knoxville in December and went through bowl practices with the Vols before the 31-14 win over Clemson in the Orange Bowl, then went through spring practice with his new team in March and April.
“He came in understanding I want learn, I need to know,” Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said last month. “And then the way that guy just has his calmness on the field, just his demeanor.
“I think the guys believe in him as well, that if he’s called upon to do a job like that, he will step in and compete at a high level, a high level. So we have a ton of confidence in that guy.”
