Freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava will make his first career start in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl versus Iowa.
Tennessee offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle met with media on Friday and discussed where on the spectrum of cautious to aggressive does he think Iamaleava should be against Iowa.
“It is not a tune-up game for a starter,” Halzle said. “This is a kid making his first start against one of the best defenses in all of college football. I do not think you can go into it thinking differently. You have to go take what is there, whatever they are presenting to it, you have to go take advantage of it. You are still going to have to push the ball down the field. You are going to have to take check downs when they present. We are going to have to run the football well. Football is still football at the end of the game. We have to block well. We have to tackle well. We have to catch, throw. We have to do all that type of stuff.
“To do all of that, then, you are inserting a freshman quarterback in on top of this, where he has to manage the game. He has got to understand situational football, when to take the risk, when to not, all of that, when to scramble, when is a throwaway a good thing, when is an incompletion a positive. All of those type of thoughts for a young quarterback is what I think you see young guys when they are making their first start get in trouble in sometimes. Now, he does not handle himself like a young guy, so really confident in that. I think he is prepared well. I think he is ready to go, so looking forward to seeing what he has on the first.”
