Vols player dismisses repeated concern about Nico Iamaleava ahead of clash with Sooners

The Tennessee Volunteers are gearing up for a huge SEC opener on Saturday night against the Oklahoma Sooners on the road in Norman, Oklahoma.

It should be a wild environment that the Vols will be stepping into.  The game will be a 7:30 pm ET kick, with a national ABC audience.  College Gameday will be there. The OU crowd will surely be at a fever pitch at kickoff.

As such, there have been some concerns among some fans and pundits on social media about Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava making his first career true road start in a tough environment like Oklahoma.  However, Vols TE Miles Kitselman dismissed those when asked about them on Monday.

"Yeah, I'm not worried about Nico at all," Kitselman said.  "Talking about loud, distractions, and all that stuff.  The way Nico prepares himself.  How confident he is in his play will take care of all of that."

Nico has certainly not played like a freshman QB throughout his first four career games as a starter.  His first career start against Iowa saw him carve up one of the nation's top defenses for four touchdowns.  After setting the school record for passing yards in a single half against Chattanooga, Iamaleava was able to help the Vols pull away in the middle quarters of their 51-10 win against NC State with some solid play.

Iamaleava was able to shake off an interception against the Wolfpack early in that game, responding by leading the Vols on five consecutive scoring drives following the pick.

And what Kitselman talked about regarding preparation is an area that UT offensive coordinator Joey Halzle talked about last year as far as Nico being at an advanced level for his age.

As such, there's a lot of reasons to believe that Nico can step onto the field at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and that the environment will not be too much for him to handle.

Tennessee will need that same calm and composed mentality from their young signal caller in a tough surrounding and against a tough defense on Saturday.

Related: Tennessee Vols get level of respect unseen since the 1970s ahead of huge matchup with Oklahoma Sooners