Nico Iamaleava didn't plan on this path with Tennessee football.

That is to say the heralded and hyped freshman quarterback didn't contemplate redshirting in 2023 because Iamaleava said as much Monday. But redshirt or not, Iamaleava did plan on one thing: He wanted to be around senior starter Joe Milton and grow in whatever his season held.

"I really just wanted to learn this whole year behind Joe," Iamaleava said. "Getting a year of experience just learning under my belt."

And one more time: "Redshirting never really crossed my mind," Iamaleava said.

It happened anyway, a byproduct of Tennessee's middling regular season. Iamaleava made the most of it and that led to Monday and a four-touchdown showing in his starting debut as No. 21 Tennessee (9-4) blistered No. 17 Iowa (10-4) in a 35-0 win in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida.

What Josh Heupel said about Nico Iamaleava growing during redshirt

Vols coach Josh Heupel didn't plan on this path either for Iamaleava, who played sparingly in four regular-season games to land a redshirt. There was no plan for Iamaleava or any other player to redshirt going into the season, the third-year UT coach said.

Heupel outright stated in September that Tennessee planned to not redshirt the five-star freshman. That expectation was derailed as UT trudged through the regular season without ample opportunities for Iamaleava to play.

That did not deter Iamaleava, though, and that is what led to Monday, according to Heupel.

"He has continued to fight and grow as a competitor," Heupel said. "I am really pleased and proud of the way that he has handled his preparation every single week. I think he has gotten better throughout the course of the season in understand the urgency in that preparation."

Iamaleava was 12-for-19 passing for 151 yards with a touchdown and three rushing touchdowns against Iowa, which had allowed four rushing touchdowns in 13 games. He was cool and comfortable in the pocket and outside it, his best pass play being a 27-yarder on the sideline to wide receiver Ramel Keyton on a scramble.

Why did Nico Iamaleava redshirt?

Iamaleava played in Tennessee's season-opening win against Virginia. He didn't play against Austin Peay a week later as UT struggled to pull away. He got in against UTSA before SEC play arrived and Tennessee was often in competitive games.

A redshirt seemed obvious after Iamaleava had played in two games entering November, which featured two lowly matchups with UConn and Vanderbilt for Iamaleava. Heupel didn't dismiss the redshirt possibility after Iamaleava played against UConn on Nov. 4, then said it was happening after UT played Georgia and had only a regular-season finale against Vanderbilt remaining.

Iamaleava played only 52 snaps in mop-up duty in the regular season. He was 16-of-26 passing for 163 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in four games. A bowl game does not count against the four-game limit.

Iamaleava started Monday after Milton opted out.

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He didn't plan on that part of his path either. It is what he got, but he talked about what he got along the way instead.

“Just me learning from Joe, I think I learned how to be a pro," Iamaleava said. "How to approach every day with the same mentality. Going into practice, just in high school I feel like practice is way different than college football. He taught me how to practice and what the mindset going into practice should be.”

Learning from Milton is, after all, what Iamaleava did plan for as a freshman.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Nico Iamaleava unbothered by redshirt after Tennessee football Citrus Bowl win