I think Milton will be limited running Saturday

[A2K]

Joe don't want to run ..... he's scared of contact...You can tell it with his hesitancy..

 

[chattavol420]

Shades of every coach in our history and every coach in the history of football who watched his players in detail through dozens of practices and games and chooses the one that they believe gives them the best chance to win games.

That’s exactly what some of our fans said, when Milton was terrible to start. Heupel’s tenure here. But that didn’t prove to be the case did it? Did he or did he not choose the wrong quarterback initially?

My guess is you won’t admit he was wrong. But whether you want to admit it or not… He was in fact wrong. It’s also the same thing people said when Pruitt continued to trot out JG every week. At some point, it doesn’t matter how well they run the authentic and practice if they can’t complete, basic easy throws under the bright lights. We have guys on the roster that can make a higher percentage of the throws than Milton. I guarantee you

 

[Rememberthelate90s]

SC game plan will be to stop the run and make Joe prove he can throw it accurately. I'm concerned the Oline issues will show in this game. SC is a better overall team than floruda, coming in needing a W to stay alive in the East. This won't be easy. The Fans had better be loud and stay loud to disrupt like uga's crowd did last year. Rattler is extremely accurate, so Tenn had better keep him under heavy pressure, since we KNOW our DB's cant cover very long. Tennessee needs 5-7 sacks in this game. Study the history. Tight games are the norm, excluding last year's DEBACLE.

South carolina is not better than florida.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

I don't expect Joe to be able to run much this game. Sucks for him because I felt like maybe he was getting confident enough to up that part of his game. I just hope his leg is strong enough to throw off of. He really struggled in the 2nd half the other day.

Bottom line is we need Small, Sampson, and hopefully Wright to step up this game and expose USCjr's run D.

If we try to win with the running game, it may be a long long night. Our passing game has to make the difference. I don't think we need to score 63, but we need to score at least 40 to win.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Joe don't want to run ..... he's scared of contact...You can tell it with his hesitancy..

I think he’s improved from 2 years ago. 2 years ago you would’ve thought he thought he was the same size as Doug Flutie the way he avoided contact.

 

[CAVPUT]

I haven’t seen anyone talk about his injury. He was throwing pretty well up until he got twisted up on the sack. He came back in a knee brace. He was limping and that’s when he couldn’t complete a pass.

I sprained my knee in high school and college ball. It hurts and annoying to play with when you do it. The problem is when the game is over and you quit moving it locks up. The next week or two it’s a lot harder to go than it was to keep going.

 

[Sarms58]

Joe's should just truck them. He's got the size but not great at decision making.

Yea, he's a QB trapped in a fullback's body...he should be lowering his shoulders and running over folks. Nothing fires the OL up like a QB running over guys

 

[DaddyChad]

Oline needs to show they have testicles early in this game. Run the ball and destroy them on the ground, give Milton time when he throws.

 

[cgrish]

I was thinking about this the other day. When Heupel started his tenure as coach here, we all expected him to rotate a couple of different players until somebody had convincingly won the job out on the field. Milton didn’t have great numbers in preseason scrimmages. Both Hooker and Bailey at times posted better numbers than Milton. Yet even prior to the season starting it became known that it would be Milton’s job.

Then, the season started and Milton was horrendous. We immediately were seeing these defensive breakdowns and receivers running wide open (that the Heupel system is known for) only to see Joe Milton throw some of the worst passes ever. He’d throw the ball all the way out of the back of the end zone to a guy that has nobody within 10 yards of him…only 20 yards pass the line of scrimmage. These were basic high school level throws. No matter how bad Milton play nobody else was going to take a meaningful snap until he got injured.

As soon as Milton went down, we immediately recognized Hooker was the man. Hooker instantly proved had “the it factor”. What would the narrative be on Josh Heupel right now had he not been forced to play hooker? Heupel was given the ultimate opportunity to see his mistake corrected. A gift from god. I think most of us expected towards the end of that first year or going into the second year that he would have a different replacement ready to go after Hooker.

But nope…we went right back to the only real mistake Heupel has made as coach here.

Sometimes really intelligent people make mistakes. But you can’t be too arrogant and stubborn to fix those mistakes even when you have done a lot of other things well. I’m afraid that’s what we’re seeing here. I think we’re going to end up with a 8–5 season, and it is all going to be related to Milton’s inability to play the position at a high level. But honestly, the responsibility won’t fall on Milton. It should fall on the coach that keeps putting him out there, even though he is clearly telling the players in practice, that if they don’t perform… They won’t play.

Nico should have been given much more playing time Sat. for sure, we had 2nd string defense in starting the 2nd half. Nico needs the game time reps, to be ready for next year, or even this year if Milton were to get injured. If not we will spend the first 4 or 5 games starting next season before he has much game expierence.

 

[Smokey7]

Come on Joe step it up like everyone knows you can. Refuse to throw the ball to the side almost every time too. May plays happen. Bring the excitement back.

 

[cgrish]

Well said, those are my feelings as well. I think Heupel is just too stubborn to make a change at this point. I for one would love to see Gaston Moore in the lineup, he was great in the spring game, he should at least be given a chance. It makes no sense to me!

Moore actually was the best qb in the spring game by far.

 

[cgrish]

If we try to win with the running game, it may be a long long night. Our passing game has to make the difference. I don't think we need to score 63, but we need to score at least 40 to win.

I think it will take at least 40 points for us to win and maybe even more than that. I don't see us scoring that much if we rely mostly on our run game. Rattler will light it up if we don't get a lot of pressure on him.

 

[chattavol420]

Nico should have been given much more playing time Sat. for sure, we had 2nd string defense in starting the 2nd half. Nico needs the game time reps, to be ready for next year, or even this year if Milton were to get injured. If not we will spend the first 4 or 5 games starting next season before he has much game expierence.

Agree. And well said. I think highball will stick with Milton unless the wheels fall entirely off this year. It’s the fan he likely put in place sometime ago and he’s sticking to it. I think it was a mistake for him to put all those chips on Milton and I have no shred of doubt he realizes he made a mistake there. But at this point, it is what it is… We just have to support the team and hope Milton performs to the best of his ability… even though that bar is a lot lower than so many others could have attained.

My biggest right now isn’t so much that he made a mistake that could’ve been easily avoided. We all saw Milton two years ago and felt like he just didn’t have the it factor. But we can’t do anything about that. My frustration now is that he isn’t even trying to get Nico meaningful wraps. I really can’t grasp what’s up with that. The only thing I can come up with is should Nico go into a meeting for part of the game with the ones and hit three or four really athletic plays… It could certainly create a controversy. Hell, it would create a controversy. so maybe that’s what Heupel is worried about. But again, I feel that is yet another mistake. Nico is without a doubt the quarterback of the future. Why not get him as many reps as possible now? If he gets out on the field and balls the hell out… Isn’t that a good thing for the team? And the Fanbase? And Nico’s future? Which is essentially the teams future?

 

[bpalmer28]

I think Milton is going to throw for over 300 yards against USCe and our RBs are going to run for another 300

 

[VOLINVONORE]

Interesting…

I don’t think anyone, well maybe some, deny he has an abundant amount of physical talent. Most posters believe this, as do I. The concern is not talent; it is can he apply those talents without periods of losing control of his reactions when unexpected events occur on the field? We will find out as the season moves int.o the meat of the schedule. Let’s all hope everything works out well for future of our football season and team.

 

[LAVol1]

That’s exactly what some of our fans said, when Milton was terrible to start. Heupel’s tenure here. But that didn’t prove to be the case did it? Did he or did he not choose the wrong quarterback initially?

My guess is you won’t admit he was wrong. But whether you want to admit it or not… He was in fact wrong. It’s also the same thing people said when Pruitt continued to trot out JG every week. At some point, it doesn’t matter how well they run the authentic and practice if they can’t complete, basic easy throws under the bright lights. We have guys on the roster that can make a higher percentage of the throws than Milton. I guarantee you

Some guys are better in practice than in a game. Some are better in games than in practice. A coach can only go on what he sees. I think Heupel is a great evaluator and developer of talent. The question is: Will Joe take the coaching and show it in games. He hasn't been bad, but he hasn't been spectacular, either. Fans' expectations of Joe may be just too high. Or, hopefully, he just hasn't "clicked" yet.

 

[Orange koolaid]

Agree. And well said. I think highball will stick with Milton unless the wheels fall entirely off this year. It’s the fan he likely put in place sometime ago and he’s sticking to it. I think it was a mistake for him to put all those chips on Milton and I have no shred of doubt he realizes he made a mistake there. But at this point, it is what it is… We just have to support the team and hope Milton performs to the best of his ability… even though that bar is a lot lower than so many others could have attained.

My biggest right now isn’t so much that he made a mistake that could’ve been easily avoided. We all saw Milton two years ago and felt like he just didn’t have the it factor. But we can’t do anything about that. My frustration now is that he isn’t even trying to get Nico meaningful wraps. I really can’t grasp what’s up with that. The only thing I can come up with is should Nico go into a meeting for part of the game with the ones and hit three or four really athletic plays… It could certainly create a controversy. Hell, it would create a controversy. so maybe that’s what Heupel is worried about. But again, I feel that is yet another mistake. Nico is without a doubt the quarterback of the future. Why not get him as many reps as possible now? If he gets out on the field and balls the hell out… Isn’t that a good thing for the team? And the Fanbase? And Nico’s future? Which is essentially the teams future?

Probably need to fire Heupel and hire you since you know it all.

 

[bpalmer28]

Some guys are better in practice than in a game. Some are better in games than in practice. A coach can only go on what he sees. I think Heupel is a great evaluator and developer of talent. The question is: Will Joe take the coaching and show it in games. He hasn't been bad, but he hasn't been spectacular, either. Fans' expectations of Joe may be just too high. Or, hopefully, he just hasn't "clicked" yet.

All he lacks is consistency, which comes with confidence, which (for some guys) comes through experience.

 

[OrangeTsar]

I honestly believe if his leg was broken at this point, Heupel would get a full leg cast on it and some lightweight athletic crutches so he could gimp out there and continue air-mailing pass to all the wide open receivers. I’ve never seen anything like this coache’s affinity for sticking with a single player, no matter how poorly they play. Bringing back shades of Pruitt with JG

If you can’t tell the difference between the competence levels of JG vs Joe Milton, you might want to consider following another sport

 

[OrangeTsar]

Saw a report today that Joe was clocked at 21.3 mph in the USTA game
Good golly but a 6’5” 240 Lb QB moving at that speed is a weapon you simply MUST utilize more.

 

[chattavol420]

Some guys are better in practice than in a game. Some are better in games than in practice. A coach can only go on what he sees. I think Heupel is a great evaluator and developer of talent. The question is: Will Joe take the coaching and show it in games. He hasn't been bad, but he hasn't been spectacular, either. Fans' expectations of Joe may be just too high. Or, hopefully, he just hasn't "clicked" yet.

But at some point coaches, need to forget about what they see in practice because the only thing that truly matters is what they do on the field. It was always the same narrative with JG.
And I agree that Joe hasn’t been terrible he just hasn’t been particularly good. But you can’t have a really good team without great qb play.

 

[OrangeTsar]

Milton is going to have a 400 yd passing game with 200 yd rushing sometime this season and the usual suspects will still gripe over a couple of misses

 

[chattavol420]

If you can’t tell the difference between the competence levels of JG vs Joe Milton, you might want to consider following another sport

Milton is very similar to JG whether you want to admit it or not. He is a guy that has all the physical capabilities with size, weight, arm strength, etc. He’s also a high caliber kid and good leader. The guy that learns the playbook and shows up to work on time every day. But… When the bright lights come on, he’s just not a very good player at all. Just exactly like JG.
If you could put JG in this offense here right now, with these skill position players and this offensive scheme… I think we would see very, very similar on the field production.

 

[chattavol420]

Probably need to fire Heupel and hire you since you know it all.

Oh, I’m giving all this for free. Because I’m a diehard VFL.

But you are correct in that I was able to make an expert/spectacular observation. Many people would watch a complete defensive break down and a receiver running 25 yards past the line of scrimmage wide-open only to see Milton throw a ball 25 yards over his head, and think… Yeah, that’s a great quarterback there. So close. Some even say… How the hell do we have no WRs with 400 inch+ vertical that can make that catch… what kind of bums are we recruiting to play receiver these days?

But it takes someone like me with an incredibly keen on eye, knowledge of the game, and incredibly high football IQ to recognize those incompletions are actually on the qb. I know… earth shattering observation. But hear me out… Our quarterback is ranked 68 in the ncaa (in total QBR) and is 1 of only 4 6th year seniors in cfb. He’s also the only one that’s been mentored for 3 years by Josh Heupel and is playing in Heupel’s incredible scheme which usually creates 5–7 total defensive breakdowns per game resulting in wrs running wide open down the field. We need our quarterback to be able to consistently hit those wide-open throws. He went 0-5 on wide-open receivers running down the field on Saturday. And when wide-open throws aren’t there, we need a quarterback that can consistently make veteran/savvy plays to keep the chains moving.

 

[AlcoVOLic]

Milton is very similar to JG whether you want to admit it or not. He is a guy that has all the physical capabilities with size, weight, arm strength, etc. He’s also a high caliber kid and good leader. The guy that learns the playbook and shows up to work on time every day. But… When the bright lights come on, he’s just not a very good player at all. Just exactly like JG.
If you could put JG in this offense here right now, with these skill position players and this offensive scheme… I think we would see very, very similar on the field production.

I think JG would have better stats and play at a higher level in this Offense but regardless Joe is better overall and has more natural ability and ceiling.

HH ran this system to a Heisman level. Joe is not that caliber. The whole offense has slowed dramatically. However JG isn’t nearly as gifted as Joe.

Need to lean on the portal and see what Nico can do next year to feel certain about the future. The next three years are huge for UT football. QB isn’t the only thing (or top 5 position) that needs upgraded badly.