Nico Iamaleava will play on a real away tour for the first time in his college career this weekend when the No. 6 Tennessee begins in Norman against No. 15 OklahomaAccording to Nick Saban, proper preparation is all the more important for him.

Saban spoke on Friday on “The Pat McAfee Show” about how to prepare a young quarterback for an away situation. He said it’s the coaches’ job to give them everything they need so they don’t get overwhelmed in the stadium.

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“I think the most important thing with a young quarterback is that you put him in a situation in practice where he has to deal with the noise,” Saban said. “Explain to him exactly what he’s getting into. If he makes a few mistakes early in the game, don’t let that affect you because you don’t want it to affect him.”

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But Saban says the Volunteers’ style of play will already negate some of that. Iamaleava doesn’t have to listen too closely, considering how they call plays and how fast their operations are.

“Those teams that are fast? I think they don’t rely on cadence as much in the beginning,” Saban explained. “I think it’s a little easier for a quarterback to switch to noise when he’s trying to throw a fastball. Maybe they prepared Nico for that in this game.”

Iamaleava was fantastic in the first three real starts of his career. In those outings, he went 48-67 (71.6%) for 698 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. He also ran for 102 yards and a score on six yards per carry.

With him leading the offense, the Vols are once again one of the best teams in the country. They are No. 1 in the nation in scoring with 63.7 points per game and 191 total points. They are also second in yards per game with 639.3 yards and 1,918 total yards.

That might be too much for some players. This game is away, it’s the league opener and it’s a top 15 clash in prime time. And that’s not even everything else that comes with this particular game on Saturday.

However, Nico could do well with what is available to him at OU tomorrow.

Saban talks about the challenges Josh Heupel will face when he returns to Norman

Josh Heupel, who quarterbacked Oklahoma to the national championship in 2000 but was eventually fired by the team after serving as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, is returning to Norman as Tennessee’s head coach. His Volunteers will now face the Sooners, led by Brent Venables, the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach on that title-winning team for OU.

Nick Saban appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Friday and shared his thoughts on Heupel’s return to Norman.

“Well, I’m sure I’ve been in situations before where I’ve been fired and I’ve come back and played in those situations. Or I’ve left and had to come back in those situations,” Saban said. “I think for you personally, there might be something to that. But the main thing you want to do for your team is not let that affect your team.”

“You want your team to focus on what they need to do to be good in the game and not worry about those external emotional factors,” Saban said.