Tennessee football throttles Iowa in Citrus Bowl as Nico Iamaleava stars

ORLANDO, Fla. – Quarterback Nico Iamaleava's time has finally arrived on New Year's Day in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.

No. 21 Tennessee (8-4) plays No. 17 Iowa (10-3) at 1 p.m. ET at Camping World Stadium. The college football bowl game will be televised on ABC.

Iamaleava, a freshman and former five-star recruit, will make his start. Quarterback Joe Milton, All-SEC running back Jaylen Wright and veteran running back Jabari Small have opted out of the game. So the Vols will start a youth movement, led by Iamaleava, to finish their 2023 season.

Tennessee vs. Iowa live score updates, Citrus Bowl highlights

FINAL: Tennessee 35, Iowa 0

INSTANT ANALYSIS: QB Nico Iamaleava named Citrus Bowl MVP as Tennessee football routs Iowa

JOHN ADAMS: Nico Show opens to rave reviews for Tennessee football. He was as good as billed vs Iowa

REPORT CARD: How we graded Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee football after crushing Iowa in Citrus Bowl

REACTION: The Nico Iamaleava 2024 hype train isn't stopping for Citrus Bowl MVP after first career start

Tennessee 35, Iowa 0, 4:48 left fourth quarter: Nico Iamaleava TD pass to McCallan Castles

Nico Iamaleava caps off his first career start with an 18-yard touchdown pass to McCallan Castles. Good catch and run for Castles to dive to the goal line.

This is about as good a performance as one could script up for Iamaleava, who had four total TDs.

Tennessee 28, Iowa 0, 14:15 left fourth quarter: James Pearce Jr. pick-six closes the door

James Pearce is having quite the second half, though Deacon Hill was happy to help.

Pearce intercepted an ill-advised pass from Hill and returned it 52 yards for a Tennessee touchdown. PAT good.

Going to be an interesting choice for Citrus Bowl MVP between Pearce and Nico Iamaleava.

Tennessee 21, Iowa 0, 1:43 left third quarter: Nico Iamaleava dives for third rushing TD of the game

Two plays after the turnover, Nico Iamaleava keeps on a play-action pass design and dives into the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown.

PAT good. The Vols are closing in on their ninth win of the season.

Iamaleava ties the program record for rushing touchdowns in a bowl game, previously held by held by Joshua Dobbs (2016 Music City Bowl) and James Stewart (1994 Gator Bowl).

Vols defense gets the turnover deep in Iowa territory

James Pearce Jr. gets the strip-sack of Deacon Hill with Iowa backed up to its own goal line. Dominic Bailey gets credit for the fumble recovery at the Iowa 2-yard line.

Hill has been indecisive and ineffective today, with two very important turnovers on opposite sides of the field.

Tennessee's offense not clicking to begin second half

The Vols start the second half with two drives that stall near midfield. On the first drive, Iamaleava missed Ramel Keyton on a deep ball as Keyton stopped running the route. On the second, Cam Seldon was stopped on 3rd and short.

A kick catch interference penalty gives Iowa better field position, but the Hawkeyes offense has been terrible. Iowa is averaging 2.7 yards per play in this game, which wouldn't rank among its two worst outputs this season.

HALFTIME: Tennessee 14, Iowa 0

Nico Iamaleava is giving and taking. He made a very good throw up the sideline to Ramel Keyton for a 27-yard gain to get a two-minute drive going, then took a sack to end it. That situation will be a good one to learn from for the true freshman.

The Vols lead 14-0 at the half, outgaining Iowa 220-81.

Nico Iamaleava in the first half: 7-of-13, 94 yards; 10 carries for 23 yards and two touchdowns; sacked four times

Tennessee 14, Iowa 0, 8:12 left second quarter: Nico Iamaleava's second TD run of the game

Tennessee goes 11 plays and 68 yards, capped off by a Nico Iamaleava 3-yard touchdown run over the left side. PAT good.

Cam Seldon had 33 rushing yards on the drive as the top backup behind Dylan Sampson at running back today. The Vols' young players are playing well through a quarter and a half.

A 14-0 deficit is a tall task for Iowa, who has scored 20 or more points once in the seven games coming into Monday's game.

Tennessee is outgaining Iowa 178-54. The Vols have totaled 124 rushing yards so far.

Tennessee 7, Iowa 0, 14:54 left second quarter: Nico Iamaleava 19-yard TD run

Good blocks by Dylan Sampson and Dayne Davis provide a lane for Nico Iamaleava on a designed QB run, and he sprints 19 yards for a touchdown. PAT good.

Tennessee leads 7-0. Is that enough to put Iowa away?

End of the first quarter: Tennessee 0, Iowa 0

The Vols are driving in the red zone after runs of 19 and 15 yards by Dylan Sampson and a Nico Iamaleava scramble for 15 more.

But the Citrus Bowl is scoreless after one quarter. Tennessee's offense is still trying to get the timing down on the passing game, but it'll help if the Vols run the ball this well.

Andre Turrentine intercepts Deacon Hill in the end zone

Iowa's offense methodically moves down the field inside the Tennessee 5-yard line. On 3rd and goal, Deacon Hill throws into double coverage and is intercepted by Andre Turrentine. Vols defense gets a big turnover.

That was a 10-play drive gaining 43 yards in over five minutes, but no points for Iowa.

Turrentine gets his first career interception.

Penalties halt Tennessee's first drive

After a Iamaleava completion to Jacob Warren and a first down, Tennessee's offensive line is flagged on back-to-back snaps. Ollie Lane is called for a holding penalty after a nice scramble by Iamaleava, and Cooper Mays is called for a false start. 1st and 10 turned into 1st and 25.

A couple plays later, Iamaleava is sacked on third down to end the drive. Jackson Ross' punt is not good, only 26 yards and sliced out of bounds near midfield. Iowa's biggest advantage may be in the punt game. Iowa gains 31 yards in field position on that sequence.

Tennessee defense begins game with a 3-and-out

Tennessee's defense gets off to a good start against the struggling Iowa offense.

Elijah Herring sacks Deacon Hill on third down, with James Pearce getting a piece of Hill too, to force a three-and-out. You might hear this a few times today: Iowa will punt.

Here comes Nico Iamaleava.

Tennessee football opt-outs, availability report for Citrus Bowl

Tennessee will be without offensive tackle John Campbell and defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott on Monday, a UT spokesperson confirmed.

The full list of opt-outs, injury-related absences and transfer portal absences can be found here. In total, 24 players from the regular season will be unavailable against Iowa.

IN AND OUT: Citrus Bowl: Tennessee football injury updates, opt-outs vs Iowa

Nico Iamaleava warming up for his first career start

What channel is Tennessee vs. Iowa Citrus Bowl on today?

• TV channel: ABC

• Streaming: Watch ESPN, FUBO (free trial available)

Tennessee vs. Iowa will be broadcast nationally on ABC. Dave Flemming and Brock Osweiler will call the game from the booth at Camping World Stadium, with Kayla Burton reporting from the sidelines. Streaming options for the game include the ESPN app and FUBO, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.

Tennessee vs. Iowa Citrus Bowl start time

• Date: Monday, Jan. 1

• Start time: 1 p.m. ET

The Tennessee-Iowa game is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. ET on New Year's Day from Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football score, live updates vs Iowa in Citrus Bowl