NC State HC Dave Doeren shares his thoughts on Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava

NC State head coach Dave Doeren isn't giving the Tennessee Vols any bulletin board material ahead of Saturday's showdown between the two teams in Charlotte.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

Doeren gushed over Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava on Monday while meeting with reporters.

"Their quarterback, man is he talented," said Doeren. "He's fun to watch. His first college start, in that bowl game, he rushed for three touchdowns. On Saturday, he was completing every ball. Throwing accurate, on time. Showed touched, shows arm strength. Shows mobility...it's a great challenge, a great opportunity."

When it comes to preparing to play against Iamaleava, Doeren knows that there will be some unknowns after Tennessee's starters played only a half (or less) against Chattanooga in the season-opener.

"You're kinda leaning on the Iowa game for some of it," said Doeren. "You look at their spring game knowing that's DNA and then you have the opener. And he (Nico) only really played a half of football. But you can watch Coach (Josh) Heupel's offense for a long time and see what it is. The players within it, obviously, are going to be what makes it go. But the scheme itself hasn't changed a lot over the years. It's just the guys that are playing in it....but it's Week 2. Week 2 in a game where they only played 50 percent of the game with their starters. So there's going to be some adjusting, there's going to be some unknowns. That's just how it is. It's going to be same for them with us."

Tennessee and NC State will kick off at 7:30 PM ET on Saturday night in Charlotte.

Related: Rutgers HC Greg Schiano started the 2024 season off by angering former Tennessee Vols assistant coach