Josh Heupel breaks down Joe Milton III’s performance in Tennessee’s first scrimmage
Tennessee football’s scrimmage Thursday at Neyland Stadium was held behind closed doors. There were no official stats released from the workout, either. But what Josh Heupel was willing to say during his press conference afterward was he liked what he saw from Joe Milton III.
“I thought operational (he) was really good,” Heupel said of his redshirt senior starter. “The situational stuff that we can be better at, coming out situation, we did some four-minute things at the end as well. So it’s a great opportunity.”
The opportunity Heupel described was Milton going through Tennessee’s game-day scenarios on the field for the first time during fall camp.
“Coaches are completely off the sidelines, coaches are up in the box,” Heupel said, “guys gotta learn how to operate in between the white lines, so there’s growth in that way for Joe. All in all, I’m really pleased with his decision making, what he did with football all day long as command.”
Joe Milton III last season: 971 passing yards, 10 TDs, 0 INTs
The final two games last season, when Milton replaced Hendon Hooker after his season-ending ACL tear, provided a jumpstart on his redshirt senior season, with Milton taking over the starting quarterback spot ahead of five-star freshman Nico Iamaleava.
Last season Milton passed for 971 yards and 10 touchdowns, completing 65 percent of his passes over nine games while playing behind Hooker. He started in Tennessee’s 56-0 win in the regular-season finale at Vanderbilt a week after Hooker’s season-ending ACL tear, throwing for 147 yards and a touchdown while the Vols rushed for 362 yards and six touchdowns as a team.
Later in Thursday’s press conference, Heupel was asked what he’s looking for in the situational moments he referenced with Milton.
“Processing the offense,” he said. “He’s operating and handling at a really high level right now, decision making, understanding protections and how to get himself protected or throw hot. His eyes as far as what he’s seen from the second level pre-snap and, and on the snap, he’s been really good at that part of it.
“Situational football for the quarterback, continuing to grow just in understanding. Four-minute situation, which we did from a backed up situation today, clock management, all those things are just a continued part of all of those guys. Growth from Joe all the way to Gaston Moore and everybody.”
‘His attention to detail is elite’
Last week Tennessee offensive coordinator and Joey Halzle described Milton as “a completely different guy” entering training camp, a change that started with the Orange Bowl win over Clemson.
“His attention to detail is elite,” Halzle said. “He came back after that Clemson game and he was hungry to keep learning and keep pushing forward. He didn’t rest on his laurels like, all right, cool, I figured it out. He pushed.
“I think he saw the success that he had and he knows what his talent can do and now his mentality is matching that as far as how much he wants to learn, how much he’s just consuming the game at all times. It’s fun to be a part of right now. It’s a special mindset that that kid has.”
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