Nico Iamaleava previews Tennessee at Ohio State in first round of College Football Playoff

What quarterback Nico Iamaleava said Tuesday as he looked ahead to No. 9 Tennessee (10-2) playing at No. 8 Ohio State (10-2) in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday night (8 Eastern Time, ABC/ESPN) at Ohio Stadium in Columbus:

What the biggest challenge has been during his first year as Tennessee’s starting quarterback 

“I don’t really think it was too much of a challenge. I knew what I signed up for when I came here. Being quarterback is a hard thing to do, but that’s what I came here to do.”

What he would tell himself if he could go back to the first day of fall camp

“Stay humble. Keep your head down. Keep working. Stay humble”

Tennessee’s mindset entering a game of this magnitude 

“I mean, we’re continuing to finish our prep out. And, yeah, once we get out there on the field, man, it’s go time. We got to go play football for four quarters and execute what our coaches got for us.”

What has been different for him with his increased production in the second half of Tennessee’s season

“I think just game by game, man, me continuing to get better with every rep I take. Just learning from every rep I take, getting better from those reps. And we’ve been able to pull out some wins in the back end of the season.  And I look forward to going into (post) season.”

Tennessee’s touchdown drive at Vanderbilt after the Vols had quickly gotten down 14-0, how much that drive was a growing moment for him

“I didn’t look at it that way. But I seen we were down 14-0 and we rallied the troops to go put a drive together. And it was so early in the game, so we were never really worried. But we knew what we had to do coming up, and our job 

is to go put a drive together.”

His experience playing football in cold weather, if he thinks that has an impact on his game

“I played in snow one time when I was in Chicago, a couple years ago in my seven-on-seven team and that was probably the coldest I played in. But it was it was pretty hard to play in the snow. It wasn’t too bad, but it’s just cold weather. And we’ll be ready.” 

His confidence level in Tennessee freshman wide receiver Mike Matthews 

“Man, my confidence level in Mike has always been high. It was all about him continuing to learn the offense and growing. I think he’s came a long way. He’ll be a big big part for us.” 

If it has been harder than he thought or easier than he thought to be the starting quarterback at Tennessee, running this offense 

“It’s been what I expected. I had two great mentors in front of me, Hendon (Hooker) and Joe (Milton). And they laid down the foundation for me, and it was cool for me to come and pick up where they left off.”

His internal clock, avoid sacks against Ohio State

“My internal clock is always there. I got full trust in my O-line and protection piece to pick all that up. And we’ll be prepared when that time comes.” 

What he remembers hearing Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton say about playing quarterback at Tennessee and the pressure that comes with it

“A lot of the fanbase stuff is just staying level-headed. Not letting the outside noise affect what we’ve got going on in the building. Coach Heupel always preaches that as well. I think that was the biggest piece. Don’t worry too much about outside noise. Worry about what we got going on in here with our team.”

If he spends much time thinking about the cold weather in this game

“No. I don’t. I think it is you guys, but I will be ready to go play on whatever weather we get.” 

What has stood out about Ohio State’s defense

“I think they just do everything at a high level. They play in sync together, starting from the front to the DBs. I think they’re just very technique sound. And I can’t wait for this matchup.”

How much he has felt the need to take a leadership role before such a big game

“I think that’s been me from the beginning of the season, man. It’s for me to take that jump and to be a more vocal leader for the guys when they need me to be. And (I’m) still continuing to work on that. And I have great teammates to help me with that, great coaching staff.”