CHARLOTTE, NC — — The Tennessee Volunteers made a major statement Saturday night.

Quarterback Nico Iamaleava had 276 yards and three touchdowns. Former walk-on safety Will Brooks’ 85-yard interception return for a score capped a dominant defensive performance. The 14th-ranked Vols defeated 24th-ranked North Carolina State 51-10 in the Duke’s Mayo Classic.

Iamaleava completed 16 of 23 passes for 211 yards and threw TDs to Miles Kitselman and Holden Staes. He also ran for 65 yards, including a 31-yard score, as the Vols scored on eight of their 11 possessions with the redshirt freshman under center.

“He played within his boundaries and responded well to adversity and that’s one of the things we haven’t seen from him yet,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said of Iamaleava’s two-interception performance. “I’m really proud of him.”

Despite the two errors, Iamaleava passed the first big test of his early career with flying colors. The Vols have now scored 120 points in their first two games after beating Chattanooga 69-3 in the opener.

“It was a bit sloppy in the beginning, but I thought we finished strong in the second half,” Iamaleava said.

Dylan Sampson ran for 132 yards and scored two touchdowns as Tennessee (2-0) outgained NC State by 460 yards to 143.

Tennessee limited NC State quarterback Grayson McCall to 104 yards passing and forced three turnovers. The Vols held the Wolfpack to 39 yards rushing on 28 carries, and NC State’s lone touchdown came on a pick-six.

Heupel called it an “elite” defensive performance.

“The standard at Tennessee is to be elite on defense. This is the home of Reggie White, Al Wilson and Eric Berry,” Heupel said.

The attack wasn’t bad either.

Iamaleava quickly showed off his skillset, breaking the containment and rushing past two defenders to pick up 12 yards on a third-and-7 play to keep the Vols’ opening drive alive. Tennessee would break through on its second drive with a series of short completions from Iamaleava before Sampson ran nine yards up the middle for a touchdown.

After the teams traded field goals, NC State (1-1) drove deep into Tennessee territory before McCall overthrew tight end Justin Joly in the flat and Brooks grabbed the first interception of his career, racing untouched down the left sideline for the touchdown and a 17-3 lead. It was the 10th-longest INT return for a touchdown in school history and the longest since Daniel Bituli’s 97-yarder against Alabama in 2017.

“That was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said Heupel.

Max Gilbert scored a 45-yard field goal late in the first half to give the Vols a 17-point lead at halftime.

Things went from bad to worse for NC State in the second half.

On Tennessee’s first possession of the third quarter, Iamaleava sparked a fourth-down run and then found a wide-open Kitselman down the left sideline for a touchdown.

Dominic Bailey followed with a strip on McCall and recovered it at the NC State 22-yard line, setting up Gilbert’s third field of the game and the loss.

And when NC State was stopped on a desperation fourth-and-1 run at home, Iamaleava sealed the game with a burst up the middle on a QB draw with 4:07 left in the third quarter.

“It got away from us. It snowballed,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to get back into it.”

Doeren said he plans to keep McCall at quarterback.

“He’s mad at himself, but he’s got to go back and flush it,” Doeren said. “We have a lot of confidence in Grayson. As a head coach, I believe in him completely.”

Vols uses 12 employees

Offensively, the Vols made heavy use of two tight ends, something that surprised the Wolfpack.

“This is the deepest room we’ve ever had for our tight end and it’s going to be part of what we continue to do,” Heupel said.

The takeaway meal

Tennessee: The Vols’ up-tempo offense was firing on all cylinders on the game’s first drive, and their defense was excellent. This has the look of a team with the potential to compete for a national championship.

NC State: The Wolfpack offense looked completely out of balance, as it managed just 27 yards and three turnovers in the second half. Unlike last week against FCS school Western Carolina, NC State was unable to mount a fourth-quarter rally.

Implications for the poll

With a strong performance against a Top 25 team, the Vols will likely move up in the rankings, possibly even into the Top 10. The Wolfpack can wave goodbye to their Top 25 ranking after a lackluster performance last week against Western Carolina and this debacle.

Next

Tennessee: Will be the heavy favorite when they host Kent State on Saturday.

NC State: Returns home on Saturday to play Louisiana Tech.

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