Tennessee football’s explosive offense will meet NCAA football’s No. 5 overall defense in Iowa on Monday in the Citrus Bowl.
Iowa’s defensive performance in 2023 earned Hawkeye defensive coordinator Phil Parker the Broyles Award, an honor given to the top assistant in college football. That is not lost on Tennessee’s offensive coordinator Joey Halzle.
“They are just a very sound, solid, strong defense from top to bottom,” Halzle said. “You see a lot of physical play up front, especially from their defensive line, their linebackers. They like to play physically, get their hands on people. They shed blocks. There is a reason their defensive numbers are the way they are. It is all the way to the back end.”
The Vols’ offense will feature freshman Nico Iamaleava making his first start at quarterback. The start is certainly not going to ease the former five-star prospect into college football.
Halzle made sure to note that it is not a “tune-up” game for the 6-foot-6, 206-pound quarterback.
“Football is still football at the end of the game,” Halzle said. “We have to block well. We have to tackle well. We have to catch, throw. We have to do all that type of stuff.”
Iamaleava will have veteran center Cooper Mays to lean on in his first start. Mays will be tasked with leading an offensive line against the Hawkeyes, who only give up three yards per carry.
The Hawkeyes give up 172.2 yards per game through the air. Against Big Ten defenses, this number can easily be deflated.
No matter, the start for Iamaleava comes in a nationally televised bowl game instead of against Chattanooga in the season opener.
“He has done well for himself,” Mays said of Iamaleava. “Like coach said, he does not really handle himself like a young guy. We have had a few weeks here to gel and come up and give him a chance to get ready for the game. He has done a really good job, and he has done the best he can with it.”
The biggest growth for Iamaleava has been in recognizing defense. That development can help when he takes on a stout Iowa defense.
“A lot of freshmen quarterbacks are like, ‘Cool, teach me the plays and I will figure it out,’” Halzle said. “He really wanted to dive into, ‘All right, how do I judge a defense, what am I getting as far as tips and how do I know when I’m getting pressure, when am I hot, when am I not.’”
Iamaleava will be joined by sophomore running back Dylan Sampson in the backfield. With Jaylen Wright and Jabari Small both opting out of the bowl game, it will be a new-look run game.
Bru McCoy and Dont’e Thornton Jr. also remain sidelined with injury for the bowl game. But no matter who is on the field, Mays said, the expectations for Tennessee’s offense remain the same.
“The standards are going to remain the standards long after whoever is gone,” Mays said. “Just rising to the standard and doing stuff the right way, handling yourself like a man, being there on time, doing stuff the right way, making plays. That is what we are here to do, and that is what we have been taught. So nothing is going to change based off who is there, who is not there.”
