Tennessee football opens the game against Mississippi State with a first-drive touchdown thanks to a dime 34-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava to give the Vols a quick 7-0 lead against the Bulldogs.
Nico missed a touchdown pass to Bru McCoy earlier in the drive that could have given the Vols a touchdown lead three plays into Tennessee's first drive, but he redeemed himself with this touchdown pass to Squirrel White.
Nico with a DIME to Squirrel White for the TD 😤pic.twitter.com/bkFolJSWqv
— Vol Report (@AllVolReport) November 10, 2024
This comes after weeks of the Vols struggling to find the end zone, or even put points on the board, in the Vols' first drive and throughout the first half. Whether it be Nico or running back Dylan Sampson putting the ball on the ground and giving the ball away, the Vols have struggled to finish drives and find the end zone.
It's only one drive and one touchdown for the Vols but they quickly established some offensive momentum early in the first half, which hasn't been the case in recent weeks.
It's also important that Nico and the Vols found the end zone on 4th and 6 in a must-have situation. Tennessee needed at least the first down and Josh Heupel decided to trust his freshman quarterback and take a shot to the end zone and give Nico a chance to use his impressive arm talent to score a touchdown and he did just that.
Nico has looked good so far against Mississippi State and will look to continue building offensive momentum against the Bulldogs as Tennessee looks to get the offense back on track and scoring as efficiently as they were earlier this season.