KNOXVILLE — Tennessee produced touchdown passes of 27, 63 and 71 yards during Saturday afternoon's Orange & White Game, and that wasn't always the case last season.
Despite possessing the mammoth arm of Joe Milton III, the Volunteers threw for just 100 yards with a long of 17 during the 20-13 topping of Texas A&M in mid-October and amassed 147 aerial yards with a long of 21 in their 38-10 loss to Georgia a month later. When Nico Iamaleava took the reins in the Citrus Bowl, the Vols dominated defensively and on the ground, overshadowing a 151-yard passing performance.
Iamaleava had a 28-yard throw to running back DeSean Bishop and a 27-yard scoring strike to Chas Nimrod on consecutive plays in the second quarter Saturday at Neyland Stadium, which preceded Gaston Moore's 63-yard touchdown pass to Mike Matthews on the final play of the half and Jake Merklinger's 71-yard touchdown toss to Chris Brazzell midway through the third quarter.
"All of those things are going to have to come together," Vols fourth-year coach Josh Heupel said. "It's about guys getting open. It's about the structures of defenses. It's about quarterbacks being in the right spot and being accurate with the ball. It's about the protection up front. It's going to take all 11 to function and operate that way, and we certainly want that and need that.
"Creating some of those explosive plays throughout spring ball is something I think we've gotten better at here in the second half in terms of being more on the same page and being more accurate."
Matthews, the highest-rated signee in Tennessee's 2024 class, left immediately after the spring game to attend his Parkview High School prom in the Atlanta suburb of Lilburn.
Tennessee's top three quarterbacks enjoyed quality outings, with Iamaleava completing seven of nine passes for 96 yards. Moore, a fifth-year senior walk-on who began his career with Heupel at UCF, was 12-of-18 for 184 yards and two touchdowns, while Merklinger, a midyear enrollee, was 5-of-7 for 105 yards and a score.
"All in all, I thought they handled the mechanics and the game-like situations extremely well," Heupel said. "They were decisive and accurate for most of the day, but there were a couple of balls that were high in the middle of the football field."
Said Iamaleava: "I'm very pleased with the steps that we've taken."
Merklinger, a four-star signee from Savannah, Georgia, was not only effective through the air but led all rushers with 42 yards on two carries. He had a 26-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter for the Orange team, which ultimately won the game 21-14.
"His growth fundamentally and understanding what we're doing and understanding defensive structures and being a good decision-maker — he's just continued to grow though the course of spring ball," Heupel said. "Today, with the opportunity to play in front of fans in the stadium, I thought he did a nice job."
Brazzell, the transfer from Tulane, led all receivers with three catches for 78 yards. Veteran receivers Bru McCoy and Squirrel White didn't play.
"This is the deepest wide receiver pool that we've had," Heupel said. "There are a lot of young guys in our system who still have a lot of growth, but I love the competitiveness of that group. They've made plays, and fundamentally they're getting so much better."
Saturday's game actually served as the 14th spring practice. The team will use its 15th and final session Monday to watch film and then play softball.
This was the final Orange & White Game for fifth-year senior defensive lineman Omari Thomas.
"In the locker room before, we really just try to talk mess to each other just to get things going and to build up some energy and tension a little bit," Thomas said. "We want to go out there and compete and be our best, and we try to build up that tension so we do have motivation going into the game, but it's all love and it's all fun.
"I feel like both sides did a really good job and that we both had a good spring. We put on tape that we can be dominant, and we've got to grow off of that and not be complacent."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.