Tennessee Vols OC points out what he liked about QB Joe Milton in first start of the season
Joe Milton made his fifth career start for the Tennessee Vols this past weekend in UT's 49-13 win against Virginia, improving his record to 4-1 as a starter for the Volunteers (his lone loss came against Pittsburgh in 2021, a game that he didn't finish due to injury). Earlier this week, Vols offensive coordinator Joey […]
Joe Milton made his fifth career start for the Tennessee Vols this past weekend in UT's 49-13 win against Virginia, improving his record to 4-1 as a starter for the Volunteers (his lone loss came against Pittsburgh in 2021, a game that he didn't finish due to injury).
Earlier this week, Vols offensive coordinator Joey Halzle met with reporters and he was asked about Milton's performance against Virginia.
Halzle pointing out several positive things that Milton did against Virginia while noting that the Florida native is playing quarterback at a really high level.
"He played really well," said Halzle when asked about Milton. "He took what they gave him and was not just naturally trying to say, 'alright, I'm throwing this deep.' He didn't have any of those type of plays. When they were soft, he dropped it down, got outside and got to his second and third reads. The first touchdown he threw was to his fourth read. It was really great to see him operate like that."
"There's a maturity to it, and we've talked about what he's put in and invested into this with his eye discipline," continued Halzle. "When you know where you're supposed to be and the timing you're supposed to be on and when it's not there, it's much easier to get to the next one. If your eyes are all over the place trying to figure out what's going on or where you're supposed to be, now it's hard to get to two, three and four, because now you're just trying to find who the appropriate one is. All of that we've talked about since we came back here in January and February, you saw play out with his decision making on Saturday."
Halzle also noted that he likes what he's seen from Milton when "touching up" his passes (taking some velocity off his throws).
"We've worked on that all offseason," said Halzle. "There are different types of throws to make. When you're working something over the middle of the field, you're probably touching something up into windows if you're on time. The other day, if Squirrel (White) ran that hook on the far opposite sideline, he'd let that thing go with a vapor trail off the back of it. You get those type of throws still, and the one that he touched up to Ramel (Keyton) coming across the middle when we hit the big play off the second and long. That got us going. He touched that up right over the top of the backer and dropped it in the bucket right there. There's a multitude of throws that a quarterback has to play."
"That's what you're seeing Joe do is he's playing the game like a quarterback at a really high level and not a thrower," added Halzle. "He's a quarterback that knows how to touch the ball up, knows how to use his arm strength when he needs it. He knows how to dial it back to touch a ball up and be on time."
Milton is pressing all the right buttons so far. But while it's a good start for the redshirt senior, he'll have to continue to improve as the season progresses. Tennessee has a couple of "easy" games early in the year (the opener against Virginia and this weekend against Austin Peay) before the grind of the SEC schedule hits. And that's where Milton can really make his mark for the 2023 Vols.
Butch Jones reacts to negativity on social media while calling out an unnamed fan base
Former Tennessee Vols head coach Butch Jones reacts to negativity on social media while calling out an unnamed fan base
Featured image via Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
