After another long, tumultuous season, the Tennessee Volunteers took to the field on Thursday night to start another new era of football. Josh Huepel is now the man in charge, bringing his high-powered crime spree to Knoxville. He was accompanied by Joe Milton, a relocation from Michigan and a native of Orlando.
Milton was named the starter on Monday, and made a white-hot start to open the game against Bowling Green. The quarterback at 6-5, 244 pounds, volunteers to top 14-0 after a few minutes. He was efficient and attacking, taking what was given to him and going down the field quickly. Milton scored the first touchdown of the game, keeping the ball on the touchdown run of four yards.
However, after those two touchdowns, the wheels fell for Milton. In a disastrous second quarter, the Bowling Green was at striking distance at halftime, as the Falcons trailed 14-6. Milton struggled to complete the pass, or even find an open receiver.
Tennessee went back to the ground game to start the third quarter with great success. You got the idea that Heppel knew he could have what he wanted on the ground, but he also needed to see something from his new starting quarterback. Honestly, after those first two scoring drives, we saw nothing more than a passing game.
Josh Heupel on Joe Milton's performance: There were a couple of times where I didn't like his decision-making. There's some things he'll have to clean up, but there were also some positives in there.
— Ben McKee (@benmckee14) September 3, 2021
Josh Heupel on Joe Milton:
— Eric Cain (@_Cainer) September 3, 2021
"There wasn't anything that was earth-shattering where we thought we needed to make a change. We believe in Joe." #Vols
Milton misses some deep shots, barely missing a wide open Cedric Tillman. He overcame both the attempts. Milton also seemed a touch slow through his reading throughout the night, getting himself into pocket trouble—which eventually led to a sack rumble.
He ended his night with a deep strike at the end, thanks to an excellent effort in the endzone from Cedric Tillman. Milton finished the night 11-23, 140 yards and a touchdown. He started the night 9-11, then it snowed.
It should certainly be noted that Milton was a big part of the fast attack tonight as well. It wasn't just melee, which he did a lot of, but it was designed to score runs. Read the options, the draw was delayed, the staff clearly wanted to use his athletic ability. In all, Milton ran 14 times for 44 yards and two touchdowns. It is also notable that Hendon Hooker ended the game on Harrison Bailey, as Tennessee stuck with the run-first theme.
Milton and Huepel both deserve a little favor here. It's a new system game in a new place, it was never going to be perfect. But the long dry spell against a really bad opponent in the second quarter is concerning, especially considering the fact that Milton never found his groove again.
Tennessee will need a more efficient effort next week against a good pit team. The team now has a few more days to digest it and make adjustments. Let's see if we see some growth next Saturday.