Nico Iamaleava threw a career-high four touchdown passes, two to Bru McCoy, and Tennessee marched to a 56-0 victory over the UTEP Miners on Senior Day to rebound from last week’s loss. UT overcame a scoreless first quarter to score 28 points in the second quarter and 21 in the third.
Josh Heupel’s team, ranked No. 11 in the College Football Playoff and one spot out due to the auto bids, received major help at the exact same time, as the Ohio State Buckeyes destroyed the Indiana Hoosiers and the Florida Gators upset the Ole Miss Rebels. Now, if the Vols win their final regular season game, they’re in.
In this matchup, UTEP head coach Scotty Walden was head coach of the Austin Peay Governors last year, a game the Vols won in ugly fashion 30-13, and he pulled out the same bag of tricks this time, disguising his 3-3-5 defense and utilizing every trick play early. It seemed to work, as Nico Iamaleava started 2-of-6.
However, after UTEP missed a field goal to potentially go up late in the first quarter, the Vols found their rhythm. Iamaleava completed 5-of-5 passes on the next drive and marched the offense 68 yards, capped off by a Dylan Sampson touchdown run.
From there, the Vols went off. Over the next 30 minutes, they would come away with two fourth down stops and a forced turnover on defense. Boo Carter would have two big punt returns to set up touchdowns as well. The offense, meanwhile, scored touchdowns on seven of their next nine possessions.
Iamaleava finished 17-of-23 for 209 yards with no interceptions in addition to his scores, and he ran it seven times for 36 yards. In addition to McCoy, Ethan Davis and Squirrel White also caught touchdown passes. On defense, James Pearce Jr. had a sack, Jermod McCoy had an interception, and Rickey Gibson III forced a fumble.
With the win, the Vols improve to 9-2 on the season and will visit the Vanderbilt Commodores next Saturday in hopes of clinching a CFP. UTEP, meanwhile, falls to 2-9 and will close out its season next week on the road against the New Mexico State Aggies.
