Tennessee football hardly broke a sweat on its way to a 69-3 thrashing of UT Chattanooga Saturday.

Look…it’s just FCS Chattanooga. We get it. But those who watched this game, saw the dots sophomore QB Nico Iamaleava was throwing and also saw that Tennessee covered -38.5 halfway through the 2nd quarter – they get it. These Vols look really dangerous early, and it’s visibly apparent that Tennessee’s offense once again has potential to be elite.

We’ll know for sure next week when the Vols travel to Charlotte to take on No. 24 NC State. For now, here are 3 takeaways from Tennessee’s ho-hum blowout of Chattanooga.

Nico Iamaleava is really, really good at football

Nico Iamaleava was dealing against Chattanooga in the first half. The former 5-star looks every bit the talent that was advertised, and maybe even a little more.

Tennessee’s sophomore QB was sharp in the pocket, deadly accurate and made just about every right decision, especially in the first quarter. In fact, Iamaleava’s only real misstep on Saturday was a shoddy 2-minute drill to end the first half, but by that point the damage was already done. Tennessee led the Mocs 45-0 after the first 30 minutes of play, and Iamaleava was absolutely the catalyst for that early success.

Iamaleava completed his first 10 passing attempts of the afternoon — good for 159 yards and a pair of touchdowns — before his first incompletion. He finished 22-28 with 314 yards and 3 dots to the end zone. His first touchdown was a slant to TE Ethan Davis.

Here’s touchdown No. 2, a laser beam to WR Dont’e Thornton on the run:

Thornton was a busy man on Saturday. He hauled in 3 receptions for 105 yards and 2 touchdowns. Here’s his 2nd score, another dot from Iamaleava:

Iamaleava is the first QB in Tennessee history to throw for 314+ yards in a single half of football.

Tennessee’s Front 7 is full of Dudes

We all know about future first round draft pick James Pearce around the edge. But alongside Pearce are a group of rabid dogs — and Saturday was an early indicator that this Tennessee defensive line and linebacker unit may very well be a top unit in the conference.

UTC quarterback Chase Artopoeus did not throw an interception on Saturday, a good indication of defensive line presence in the QBs face. He was sacked just once. Indeed, the stats won’t tell this story for us.

But defensive standouts such as Tyre West, Joshua Josephs and Elijah Simmons had fantastic days for the Vols in Week 1. Jordan Ross, Tennessee’s former 5-star freshman edge rusher, blocked a punt which he returned for a touchdown late in the game, too.

In total Tennessee finished with 1 sack, 5 tackles for loss and just 74 yards rushing, the majority of which came in the late stages of the game. Josephs also recovered a fumble by Chattanooga RB Reggie Davis.

Have a day, Dylan Sampson!

Vols RB Dylan Sampson posted a hat trick on Saturday and looks to be a solid piece in the backfield for Tennessee moving forward. The junior running back finished his day in the first half with a total of 12 carries for 124 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Sampson averaged just over 10 yards per rush against, admittedly, a dreadful FCS defensive line. He showed growth from the insane flashes he had last season for the Big Orange, and there wasn’t anyone on the field that looked like they could contain him for Chattanooga. As it should be if you’re going to be considered a truly elite running back in the SEC.

NC State’s defensive line was completely pushed around by Western Carolina on Thursday, so expect another big outing from Sampson next week as the Vols travel to Charlotte to face the Wolfpack.