Tennessee Vols quarterback Joe Milton had a moment to forget during his first season at UT. 

During the Vols' seventh game of the 2021 season, a 31-26 loss to Ole Miss, Milton was thrust into the game after starting quarterback Hendon Hooker suffered an injury on the game's final drive. 

Milton came into the game and he completed his first pass to wide receiver Walker Merrill which gave the Vols a chance. 

The next pass from Milton (after spiking the ball to stop the clock) was a narrow incompletion to wide receiver Cedric Tillman that nearly won the game. 

A lot of talk about the final play where Joe Milton went out of bounds. But had this pass been caught, he would’ve been a hero. So close. pic.twitter.com/Bhtt55LgUF

— zach ragan (@zachTNT) October 17, 2021

With three seconds left on the clock after the incompletion to Tillman, the Vols had time for just one more play. 

On the final play of the game, Milton was quickly flushed from the pocket. Instead of throwing the ball to the end zone and hoping for an answered prayer, Milton took off running. And as he picked up the first down, with the clock reading 0:00, Milton ran out of bounds, ending the game. 

It was a tough moment for Milton. And it's a moment that happened for a couple of reasons. A lack of experience in those types of moments is one reason. Another reason is because Josh Heupel was still in his first season as the Vols head coach and things weren't quite as crisp on Rocky Top as they are a couple of years later. 

Heupel and his staff have worked this offseason to make sure those types of moments don't happen again with Milton or any of the quarterbacks on the roster. 

Heupel told reporters on Monday that situational awareness is something that's been repped a lot this offseason with Milton and the other quarterbacks. 

"You put quarterbacks in tough situations and in some situations during practice you put them in the harder spots that they can be in," explained Heupel. "He’s continued to grow in his understanding of football. Understanding, when can I hang in the pocket, when’s it time to get rid of football and make sure that in a certain situation, whether we’re backed up or in field goal (range), where you’ve got three (points), you're trying to get seven points. Understanding the timing and how to play smart football in those situations. He’s continued to grow and love what he’s done. The other quarterbacks in the room have continued to grow as we've put them in a lot of situations."

"I think that’s one of the things that I’ve done as a head coach is try to create more situational awareness and actually getting more reps in those situations," added Heupel. 

The situation that Milton faced in 2021 against Ole Miss might've been a situation that Tennessee hadn't repped at that point under Heupel (additionally, that's a really tough spot for a backup quarterback to be in….just off the bench with the game on the line and less than a minute on the clock). 

Regardless, it's clear that Tennessee has worked hard this offseason to make sure that their situational awareness is where it needs to be in 2023. 

Featured image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports