After struggling to score in the first quarter during the opening three games of the 2023 season, Tennessee needed to find success on offense early vs. UTSA.
With this in mind, there was no delay in a highlight play that put the Vols into the end zone. On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Joe Milton III read the Roadrunners' defense and kept the ball on a read option.
He would take it all the way to the house for an 81-yard score. This marked the longest run by a quarterback in school history and was the 10th-longest by any player.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
While baiting the defense to bite on the hand-off, Milton had just one defender to beat. With a perfect block from Bru McCoy, he was untouched during his run.
However, his speed that got him down the field and left defenders in the dust almost caught up with him.
Milton admitted that he ran out of gas at the end of the house call.
"A tire kind of blew out at the 20," said Milton. "I had to pick up, sometimes you drive on a spare tire. It was good."
By the end of the match, Milton had totaled 89 yards on the ground. This trailed just Dylan Sampson in the game.
For the quarterback to reach the next level and Tennessee's offense to see success, he will need to continue to use his feet. This can be on run plays or just the ability to extend plays while looking down the field.
“Want him to continue to make plays," said head coach Josh Heupel. "Going to have to use his feet. You saw it tonight in the run game. As we go into our drop back pass game, he’s going to have to work the pocket, climb the pocket and escape and make plays with his feet. Extend and make plays with his arm. That will be critical as we continue to go."
The quick start didn't end there, though. On the next drive, Tennessee found the end zone again on a run by Sampson. The offense continued to move the ball down the field but a missed kick from Charles Campbell left the score after one quarter at 14-0.
By the end of the half, the Vols had extended their lead to a 31-0 advantage, though. This was partially due to Milton's impressive stat line that earned him 156 yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air and 89 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
This quick start is something that Tennessee always wants to get out to. Of course, every team in the country would love an early lead, but its even more important in Heupel's offense.
MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Key takeaways: Hot start pushes Vols past UTSA at home
"That's been our motto since the season started," said Milton. "That's always been our motto since coach Heupel got here. Just, you want to start fast so you can understand the flow of the game and understand the tempo that you guys can bring and what you guys can do and execute. And how you can execute. I feel like that's been a motto since coach Heup got here. That kind of led toward us. We always have the same energy. Start fast and get things going so we can find out the mojo of the team."
However, the third quarter saw Milton go through a period of struggle. He couldn't connect with a wide receiver for an extended period of time and the offense stalled out.
While he improved down the stretch to end on a high note, the inconsistency is something that needs to be cleaned up.
Heupel doesn't put all the blame on Milton, though. He admits that some plays come down to Milton throwing a better ball but he also cites the connection with receivers as something that needs to improve for the offense to run at the best level it can.
“Couple of them are him," said Heupel. "Couple deep balls were a little bit off. Wide receivers being in sync on some of their route patterns, too, in the middle of the field. It’s a combination of all those things that didn’t let us operate as efficiently as we needed to be.”
For Milton, he's ready to get back to practice to iron out these aspects. He understands there's a long way to go and that the team can play at a much higher level.
Ultimely, he says he just wants to give his all for Tennessee, though.
"The main goal is to give your all for Tennessee," said Milton. "I give my all for Tennessee no matter what game it is. The whole purpose of connecting in the pass game, it didn't really connect. I feel like there's still more out there for us to do but that's why we practice every day. We go back and watch film and learn from it and understand what we're doing as an offense."
–––––
– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.
– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.
– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @TMansfieldMedia, @ByNoahTaylor, @RealTBannerman, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media, @TylerIvens, @Hunter_DeNote.
–––––
