Nico Iamaleava played arguably his best game when Tennessee needed it most late Saturday night.
The No. 7 Vols, who had shaken off sluggish offensive starts in each of their previous three games, had to shake one more against Kentucky at Neyland Stadium, overcoming another halftime deficit to beat the Wildcats, 28-18.
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Tennessee (7-1, 4-1 SEC) used an opportunistic defense that forced three turnovers in the second half and efficient quarterback play from Iamaleava to keep its College Football Playoff aspirations in tact.
Iamaleava finished 28-of-38 passing for 292 yards and a touchdown--his lone scoring strike a 6-yard toss to tight end Miles Kitselman in the back of the end zone to put the Vols in front for good late in the third quarter.
Iamaleava talked about his performance after the game. Here is everything he said.
On throw to wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. for a first down on fourth quarter scoring drive
"I think I'm confident in every throw. Any throw out there, I think I've got the most confidence in my receivers to go make that play. My tight ends to go make that play. For sure."
On what he says to wide receivers after dropped passesÂ
"I'm still instilling confidence into my guys on the sideline. Everybody has their play. You've got to be able to go pick your teammates up. I just told those boys, 'I'm going to keep coming to y'all. On any of those routes, I'm still going to keep coming to you.'"
On assessment of his performance
"I was just taking what the defense was giving me. Seeing that the quick stuff was out there, the deep game, it was there. I was taking what the defense was giving me."
On helping push running back Dylan Sampson into end zone for record-breaking touchdown in fourth quarter
"I think I contributed some. Just seeing (Sampson) break a couple of tackles and, man, he was at like the 4 (yard line) and I was like, 'man is he really going to get in?' Decided to go help him push that pile, and I was happy to see him break that record."
On evaluating the offense
"There is still too many missed opportunities out there. We've got to put it all together one of these games and I believe it will be the next game. So, we've got to clean up a lot of stuff. A lot of penalties in the first half. Just missed opportunities down the field that we've got to connect on. It's coming. I keep telling my guys, 'We've got to keep coming and it's going to pop eventually."
On go-ahead touchdown pass to tight end Miles Kitselman in third quarter
"It was a slip that was supposed to go to (tight end) Holden Staes in the flat. Me and Miles kind of just improvised. He wasn't supposed to be on a route right there, but I saw him open up and he made a great play."
On Josh Heupel saying he 'had a great night'
"It was OK. Got to keep getting better. The sky is the limit for this whole offense and for me, too. We've got to keep getting better."
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