Tennessee QB Joe Milton makes bold promise that he now has to deliver on
Tennessee Vols redshirt senior quarterback Joe Milton put some added pressure on himself via a bold promise/comment he recently made. Milton spoke with the "Locked on SEC" podcast at the Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana last month and he was asked how it felt to beat Clemson in the Orange Bowl in his home state […]
Tennessee Vols redshirt senior quarterback Joe Milton put some added pressure on himself via a bold promise/comment he recently made.
Milton spoke with the "Locked on SEC" podcast at the Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana last month and he was asked how it felt to beat Clemson in the Orange Bowl in his home state of Florida (Milton is from Pahokee, FL which is a little over an hour away from Miami, where the Orange Bowl was played).
"It was very meaningful," said Milton when asked what it meant to beat Clemson while playing close to home. "I don't lose in Florida. I took that one to the heart. Pretty much take every game to the heart, but I don't lose in Florida."
Milton will get another chance to deliver on that promise in 2023. One of Tennessee's biggest games of the season takes place on September 16 when the Vols travel to Gainesville to take on the Florida Gators in the Swamp.
Tennessee hasn't won in the Swamp since 2003 when Casey Clausen led the Vols to a 24-10 win. UT has come close to pulling off a win in Gainesville a few times since 2003 — most notably losing heartbreakers in 2015 and 2017.
The 2023 season will be the Vols' best chance to pick up a road win against Florida since that devastating loss in 2017. Florida struggled a bit in 2022 during Billy Napier's first season as the program's head coach. Entering Napier's second season, no one knows quite what to expect from the Gators. They could take a big step forward or they could get stuck in neutral. It's anyone's guess.
But either way, it's never easy to win in the Swamp. And Milton will have his work cut out for him if he's going to deliver another win in his home state.
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Featured image via Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
