Josh Heupel gives his thoughts on Joe Milton starting at QB for the Tennessee Vols in the Orange Bowl
Joe Milton will start at quarterback for the Tennessee Vols next Friday night in Miami as UT takes on the Clemson Tigers in the Orange Bowl. Milton, the expected starting quarterback for the Vols in 2023, is starting in place of Hendon Hooker, who saw his Tennessee career come to a premature end due to […]
Joe Milton will start at quarterback for the Tennessee Vols next Friday night in Miami as UT takes on the Clemson Tigers in the Orange Bowl.
Milton, the expected starting quarterback for the Vols in 2023, is starting in place of Hendon Hooker, who saw his Tennessee career come to a premature end due to a torn ACL suffered against South Carolina last month.
Hooker will be in Miami supporting his teammates, but it will be Milton under center against Clemson in what will be his fourth career start for Tennessee
On Sunday, Josh Heupel and the Vols arrived in Miami for the game. Upon arrival, Heupel spoke about the matchup against Clemson and he talked about Milton starting at quarterback.
“This is a homecoming for him," said Heupel about Milton. "This is a guy from South Florida who is going to have a lot of family and friends here at the game. This means a lot to him."
"Somebody that inside of our program has had a voice and been a leader all year long and has prepared really consistently," added Heupel. "As much growth as he’s had from year one to year two in what we’ve done and how he handles every day inside of our building. Proud of him for that but that’s also led to him being consistent in preparation up until us landing here in south Florida.”
This game will essentially be a chance for Milton to show that he's progressed significantly since the start of the 2021 season. Milton looked a bit shaky against Bowling Green and Pittsburgh before suffering an injury and ceding the starting job to Hooker.
Milton's start against Vanderbilt in the final game of the regular season didn't give Heupel and his staff a true view of the veteran quarterback due to rain. The game plan that night wasn't a typical Tennessee game plan. The matchup against Clemson will give Heupel and his assistants a much better idea of how much progress Milton has made over the last year.
If Milton impresses, the hype for the Vols will be at an all-time high entering the offseason. But if he struggles, fans and media analysts will start calling for Heupel to hit the transfer portal in search of a quarterback.
This game is important for a myriad of reasons (Tennessee badly wants to get to 11 wins), but getting a chance to evaluate Milton might be the most important aspect of this matchup for the Vols.
Featured image via Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
