In Orlando, the Nico Iamaleava era got off to a great start on Monday afternoon. In the Citrus Bowl, Tennessee dominated Iowa, taking an early lead thanks to the true freshman quarterback’s legs. Iamaleava gave the Volunteers a 21-0 lead by scoring three goals on the ground.
That’s all she wrote, given Iowa’s heinous transgression. Tennessee proceeded to triumph 35-0.
Iamaleava was impressive while he was in the ground, but even more so when he was leading Tennessee’s fast-paced offense. In the pocket, he was decisive, most of the time running through his reads to find the open man. Tennessee’s passing attack lacked any genuine flare, but that was to be anticipated given Iowa’s formidable defense. Iamaleava just had one task to complete for the day: accepting what was offered to him.
“I think he’s going to be a really dynamic player,” Josh Heupel declared following the contest. And I am aware of that. I thought he carried himself with such composure the entire day. Little things, subtle things, breaking up the huddle, talking to each other in the hallway, and managing the run game. His gaze fell at the proper spot. It’s great to watch a young man launch his career and execute so well.”
Iamaleava amassed 12-19 yards and a touchdown at the end of the day.
The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 class more than lived up to expectations during his debut appearance as Tennessee’s starter. It’s reasonable to argue that Tennessee’s offense, which was able to amass 383 yards against arguably the top defense in the nation, was as good as it has been all season.
Hendon Hooker, a former Tennessee quarterback, took note.
“There’s a lot of things that Nico can continue to grow and grow in,” Heupel continued. “The challenge early in the football game was guys playing at a really high level around him, too. I didn’t think we played as well as we were capable at times around him, but we got great confidence in him and that quarterback toom. We got great confidence in those young players. A lot of guys got an opportunity to play a lot more football today than they had. And a lot of them played extremely well. But it also showed some things where they’ve got an opportunity to grow and how those things impact our game unfolds. And I’m really excited about who’s in that locker room, who’s coming back, and where we have an opportunity to go in ’24.”
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