Nico Iamaleava and the Vols look effortless against Chattanooga through the first half

The redshirt freshman, Nico Iamaleava got his first start inside Neyland Stadium.

Knoxville, Tenn. – The Nico Iamaleava era has officially begun for Tennessee, as the Vols took on UT-Chattanooga on Saturday afternoon.

In Iamaleava’s first start inside Neyland Stadium, he connected with Chris Brazzell for an 11-yard gain on the first play of the game.

Junior running back Dylan Sampson was involved in seven of the next nine plays as the Vols marched down the field to score on their opening drive of the game.

The Vols converted a 4th and 1 from Chattanooga’s seven-yard line off a Sampson run.

Like he did a year ago, Sampson punched in the first score of the game off a one-yard touchdown run to put the Vols on the board with 11:09 left in the quarter.

Nico and the Vols took 11 plays 65 yards for the score in 3:43 minutes.

In Tennessee’s 2023 opener against Virginia it was 4th & 5 at UVA 9 Joe Milton III completed a touchdown pass to Sampson for 9 yds to get on the board first.

Chattanooga would only get two plays off before the Vol defense ended their drive.

Tyre West forced a fumble which was quickly recovered by Joshua Josephs at the 38-yard line.

Iamaleava and the offense only needed four plays before they were back in the endzone. This time it was a pass from Iamaleava to tight end Ethan Davis for a four-yard touchdown pass.

Tennessee leads 14-0 with 8:34 remaining in the first quarter.

The Vols covered 35 yards in four plays over 1:03 minutes for the score.

Not much later, Tennessee’s offense trouted back out onto the field.

Iamaleava from the shotgun, completed a short pass over the middle to Brazzell for 23 yards.

On the very next play, Tennessee went no huddle-shotgun to Dont’e Thornton who took it 36 yards to the endzone, 21-0 with 7:18 left in the quarter.

Tennessee went 59 yards in two plays in 26 seconds for the score.

On the next drive, Iamaleava went deep to Thorton once again. This time for 59 yards.

An over-the-shoulder catch by #1 brought the Vols to Chattanooga’s 20-yard line.

Unable to find another first down, Tennessee took a 36-yard field goal attempt from Max Gilbert to push the Vols ahead 24-0.

Through the first quarter, Iamaleava and the Vols had five Big Play worthy passes that exceeded 15 yards. Those passes went 23, 36, 59, 19, and 37 yards for 174 passing yards gained.

Tennessee also has two rushes go for more than 10 yards in the first quarter, 13 and 17 yards both both Sampson.

Tennessee began the second quarter like it did the first, with a solid pass to Bru McCoy followed by a Sampson rushing touchdown.

Four plays into the second frame and Tennessee added six more to the score and after an extra point, Tennessee went in front 31-0.

Tennessee went 78 yards on six plays in 1:59 for the score.

Later, Iamaleava gets back to McCoy for another big gain at the sideline. McCoy jukes out the defender and gets a couple more yards for a 24-yard catch before going out of bounds.

On the next play, Knoxville product DeSean Bishop rushed up the middle, brushing off several would-be tackles but Mocs’ Jordan Walker was able to disrupt his stride just enough and Bishop stumbles for a 24-yard run.

On the ninth and final play of the drive, Thornton punched it in on a 10-yard touchdown catch.

The Vols would go 79 yards in 1:55 minutes and extend their lead 38-0.

Sampson showed his wheels on a 56-yard run, out of a no-huddle-shutgun, Sampson took the hand-off and took inside Chattanooga’s five-yard line.

The very next play Sampson doing what he’s known for.

Another rushing touchdown to push Tennessee ahead 45-0.

Tennessee took two plays to go 61 yards in just 16 seconds for the score.

That rushing touchdown tied his season-high from a year ago dating back to that same Virginia game when he also rushed for three touchdowns.

He also had a receiving touchdown against Virginia for four TDs on the day. His lone receiving touchdown in 2023.

Tennessee’s defense applying the pressure, Tyre West flies around the edge and lays out Chase Artopoeus for a sack and a loss of eight yards on the play.

The first sack of the day for Tennessee.

Chattanooga would put later than sequence.

Tennessee enters halftime up 45-0.

Through two quarters of play, Iamaleava is 22-28 (79%) for 314 yards and three touchdowns.

Sampson leads the team with yards with 124 on 12 carries and three scores. Plus 29 more yards through the air.

Thornton is closely behind with 105 receiving yards and two touchdowns, hauling in all three targets so far.

One of the more lopsided states comes with the overall yardage where Tennessee has registered 503 compared to Chattanooga’s 83 yards.

Iamaleava’s day concluded after the first half, and in his first start at home and second of his career, he set the all-time record for 314 yards in a half by a Tennessee quarterback.

He passed Tyler Bray who had 313 yards against Troy in 2012.

It’s also just the fourth time in school history that a quarterback threw for at least 300 yards in any half.

Tennessee’s backup quarterback Gaston Moore would take over with 10:09 left in the third quarter.

The drive ended in a 43-yard field goal to push the Vols to a 48-3 lead.

Later in the quarter, Jordan Matthews made a nice play when Artopoeus looked downfield for Sam Phillips but Matthews got his hand in there and broke up the pass. Bringing up a 3rd and 7.

However, the Mocs would convert for a first down on the next play.

By the close of the third quarter, Tennessee had nine runs of 10-plus yards. Bishop claimed the last two when he ran it up the middle for 10 yards with less than three minutes to play in the frame. Then immediately followed it with a 22-yard touchdown run.

The Karns High School product picked up where he left off and reached the checkered endzone for his first touchdown of his Tennessee career.

Tennessee covered 63 yards in six plays to score in 1:33 minutes, 55-3 Vols.

In the opening drive of the fourth quarter, Moore and the Vols would convert two first downs before Moore threw an interception to Mocs’ Kobe Joseph.

Joseph returned it 71 yards before Nathan Leacock tackled Joseph at the Tennessee 10.

His third interception as a Moc.

However, Chattanooga was forced to take a field goal attempt, but it went wide left, and the Mocs trail 55-3.

Quarterback Jake Merlinger, who celebrated his birthday Saturday, entered the game with 11:11 remaining.

This story will update as the game progresses.

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