Nico Iamaleava has amusing response to question about Tennessee's biggest gamble in win over Florida Gators

The Tennessee Vols found a way against the Florida Gators on Saturday night, escaping their pesky rival 23-17 in overtime before a raucous crowd at Neyland Stadium.

For a game that was short on points, there were a handful of "wow" moments throughout the contest.

One of those came in the first half, when Tennessee was down 3-0 and had the ball deep in their own territory.  On fourth and 1 at their own 10-yard line with just 2 minutes left in the half, Josh Heupel decided to roll the dice and go for it.  Nico Iamaleava handed the ball off to Desean Bishop, who bowled his way forward for a six-yard gain.

That was a hold-your-breath moment for many UT supporters, given the potential for disaster should the Vols have been stopped short.  And it's one that Iamaleava, when asked after the game if he was surprised that Heupel decided to go for it, admitted he didn't remember - partly because of how forgettable the entire half was for Tennessee's offense.

"Was that - first half. Did we get it? My bad. ( laughter ) I've got a bad memory from the first half. First half was not a good half of football, but no, I was not surprised because 4th and 1, we should be able to go get that every time."

It's not hard to understand why it's easy to put that half of football out of memory. Iamaleava and the Vols turned the ball over twice in the frame - once to get away sure points on the opening drive with a fumble and inside of a minute and a half until the break with an interception on a ball to a very well covered Bru McCoy.

"First drive we come out, and we were in a good drive, and we fumble the ball," Iamaleava said. "On me. I've got to be better with the handoff.  And then, our defense gets a strip on the goal line, and I come out and I throw a pick into double coverage. So, stuff like that. I've got to be better. We've got to operate better at a higher level, and we can't keep shooting ourselves in the foot."

However, the Vols' offense got more on track in the second half, and certainly in overtime, where Tennessee willed its way into the end zone in 5 plays to escape with their fifth win of the season.

The first half wasn't a laughing matter for the Vols, but fortunately, they were able to find some levity after the game about it.  Now they'll have to get serious again starting on Sunday, as the Alabama Crimson Tide come to Knoxville in less than a week for a huge top 10 showdown.

Related: Florida legend Tim Tebow made a startling admission regarding Gators' matchup with Tennessee Vols