Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton had a career day against Vanderbilt in the regular season finale on Saturday in Knoxville.
The Tennessee quarterback has received several weekly awards coming out of the game including being named the Maxwell Award Player of the Week, the Manning Star of the Week, the Reese’s Senior Bowl Offensive Player of the Week, and the East-West Shrine Bowl Monday Morning Quarterback.
Milton was dominant for Tennessee on Saturday and led the Vols’ offense to a scoring frenzy in the 48-24 win over in-state rival Vanderbilt. Milton threw for 383 yards and four touchdowns while also adding two rushing touchdowns on the day as well.
“Proud of his resiliency, continue to, you know, prepare, fight and compete extremely well,” head coach Josh Heupel said of Milton on Saturday after the game. “He was really good throughout the course of the football game. Decisive, was in the right spot, and recognized coverage. Just some really good things. Had some guys out on the perimeter make plays. For most of it, the protection was really pretty solid. There were a couple times it broke down. He stood in and made some plays and prior of the effort from the offensive line, obviously, that group was extremely beat up.”
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Milton’s six total touchdowns on Saturday were the most total touchdowns had by a Tennessee player in a single game since quarterback Jonathan Crompton racked up six scores against Memphis during the 2009 season. To find the last time a Tennessee quarterback accounted for that many touchdowns in an SEC game, you have to go all the way back to Erik Ainge throwing for seven touchdowns against Kentucky during a triple-overtime game back in 2007.
“Smart, decision-making, accurate with the football and guys out on the perimeter doing a great job,” Heupel said about why Joe Milton was so effective against the Commodores. “And a lot of quarters (coverage) which essentially becomes one-on-one situation and offensive line, doing a good job protecting. So you put all that together and then a couple opportunities in the right zone, running the football, he’s got a really special night.”
Tennessee QB Joe Milton Week 13 Awards:
- Maxwell Award Player of the Week
- Manning Star of the Week
- Reese’s Senior Bowl Offensive Player of the Week
- East-West Shrine Bowl Monday Morning Quarterback
One Response
Congratulations to Joe Milton 111. Too bad he waited until his last regular season game to really excel. It makes up for the average season he had this year. It is good to see him do so well in this last game. I hope he can duplicate his performance in the bowl game. I know he has worked hard during his college football career and I wish him the best in the future.