Nico Iamaleaeva has yet to make it to the second half as Tennessee Football’s starting quarterback at Neyalnd Stadium. And that’s not a bad thing at all for the Vols.

He was pulled at halftime two weeks ago, after completing 22 of 28 passes for 314 yards and three touchdowns to lead Tennessee to a 45-0 halftime lead over Chattanooga, with the Vols on their way to a 69-3 win.

It was even more lopsided Saturday night against Kent State. Iamaleavea completed 10 of 16 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown and rushed five times for 31 yards before being pulled midway through the second quarter. 

Tennessee led 51-0 when Iamealeava exited and was up 65-0 at halftime after backup quarterback Gaston Moore threw the first two touch passes of his career with the Vols. 

It was a 71-0 Tennessee win after adding two more field goals in the second half while the Vols emptied the bench.

Iamaleava on the season is now up 48-67 (.716) for 698 yards and six touchdowns, with two interceptions. He has ran 17 times for 102 yards and a touchdown, too.

Here’s what Iamaleavea said during his postgame press conference Saturday night, after making his fourth career start:

His thoughts on Tennessee freshman receiver Mike Matthews making his debut

“I think we’ve always seen his big play ability in practice, it was good to see it carry over to a game. He’s always making tough catches, so it was good seeing him shine tonight.”

Where he thinks the Tennessee offense is through three games and how much better it can be

“I think there’s still a lot more room for improvement. I think that’s every day what we’re working for, it’s to get one percent better. Anything that we can do to get our offense whether that’s a tempo or being set, no penalties, no pre-snap penalties. I think everything that goes into play, yeah there is still a lot of room for improvement.”

Getting ready for his first road SEC game Saturday with Tennessee going to Oklahoma 

“I look at everybody the same, you know? We got our team, they got their team. They’re the next opponent that’s on our schedule. And, yeah, I mean, we look at every opponent the same, so I’m not looking at it any other way.”

Where he’s grown the most from Week 1

“I think just my command for the offense. I got a better feel for it and the way that we just operate the offense as a whole. I think I got a better grasp of it.”

His touchdown pass to Chris Brazzell II

“Yeah, man, it was really supposed to be a free play. We didn’t get them to jump, Coop (Cooper Mays) thought they jumped, so he snapped it. It was third and long, him and Bru (McCoy) were kind of the only options I had, and I took it up top to Chris. I was happy to see him catch that and go and score.”

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