Milton’s One Hurdle

#27
#27
B81 said:
We were bad converting 3rd downs in the first half. They made some adjustments, and did much better in the second half. Very similar to the clemson game.
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Totally agree. This felt a lot like the Orange Bowl. I just kept waiting for us to blow them out and it took three quarters when it really should have been two at most. Our OC didn’t help us in the second quarter - the play calling was dodgy and we basically stopped ourselves. We can have a great season if just let go and play to our strengths - and I think we have a lot of them. Should be a fun season to watch - it will be hard - but should fun.
 
#28
#28
PEPPERJAX said:
Agreed
His supporting cast needs to help him too. If Keyton catches that bomb, then UT likely mounts a larger lead much sooner which would have allowed Joe to play loose earlier in the game.
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This is exactly part of it. Milton has a lot going for him but he’s not Hooker. He’s not a guy that’s going to drag the team to victory; he needs a little help. Defense does look improved though.
 
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#30
#30
AllVol23 said:
I noticed this also. Could be something to watch. But here’s my main concern, and I am a fan of Joe’s, but the guy is charmin soft to be as big as he is. I keep waiting for the Cam Newton style Joe to show up but he’s afraid of contact. Short yd situations he has to be the guy.
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How is he afraid of contact, we all saw him truck their DB on a run play.
 
#33
#33
Based on his progress under coach Heupel, I would say Joe is coachable and I believe his coaches will continue to help him grow. Completed almost 70% of his passes today for 200 yards with zero interceptions. Had some drops and had some misses but overall a solid game. We ran the ball 60% of the time because we could - ended up close to 300 yards on the ground - so we weren’t going to just throw every down.

It was a good opener against a team that is struggling but they did have some quality players on the DL so it was a good chance for our OL to work and overall they did a good job. Our DL just destroyed their OL but I suspect that may be one of their biggest weaknesses and one of the weaker OLs we’ll face this year.

Hopefully we didn’t sustain and injuries. I didn’t see Thomas or Squirrel play after they went off but hopefully that was just a precaution. Unfortunately they lost their best DL on a freak accident (celebrating) and their QB took a lot of hits even before he hurt his shoulder. I hope all players are able to return next week.

Lastly, I hope someone tracked all the freshmen who played. I saw Hobbs in for several series - we need him to get plenty of work this year because we will be thin at DT next year.
 
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#34
#34
The offensive line gave Milton all day to find a open receiver,that wont happen when we start SEC play.I was overall pleased with Miltons play today!!
 
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#37
#37
I think fans should recognize that Milton has started 10 total games in the span of 5 seasons. He has had alot of tome to think and out pressure on himself.

It may not be pretty for a few games this season. But I believe the longer we stick with him, the more he will settle in.
 
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#39
#39
mitzustu said:
I think we can pinpoint Milton’s main limitation (thus far) to one thing. If he conquers it the ceiling is immeasurable. If he doesn’t, SEC road games are scary.

He plays tight when the game is tight. And plays loose (really well) when games are in hand.

Same with Clemson. There was an alternation of what felt like 5 or 6 possessions where it was a one possession game.

Once we shook free he played freely the rest of the way. Saw the same thing today. It’s a factor if he’s in a road environment with the crowd on his back. He needs to hit a few important balls early in Gainesville.
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I think that really manifests itself after big letdown plays like THE DROP.
 
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#41
#41
Joe continues to struggle with the 5-15 yard pass. He feels way more comfortable throwing to his right as well. This will be scouted no doubt.

I thought he performed pretty well. I’ll give a B+. We didn’t open up the offense so a better judge will be against UF. He did a great job of being a leader today. He has great leadership qualities.
 
#42
#42
Remy said:
The strangest thing I noticed is he rarely is moving his feet while holding the ball waiting on players to get clear. It's like he throws completely flat footed, it's all arm. He can throw it through a brick wall so it doesn't affect that part of his game but it may be affecting some of his throws when he chooses late to hit a second or third receiver coming clear. It's why some of those type throws look so poorly thrown sometimes IMO. I'd love to see him keeping some timing up on the balls of his feet but it's way too late in his career to make big changes like that.
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He’s probably coached to throw flat footed to avoid throwing it over the Jumbotron
 
#43
#43
I hope he’s not a headcase this year.. that’s what I’m afraid of.. JG type of QB.. that dude could of been special.. I believe….

but didn’t have a chance with what was going on at the state of Tennessee football..
 
#46
#46
Milton was fine today. I’ve been a critic in the past but he did what he needed to. Our wrs just need to get on the same page at this point and actually pull in the passes. I definitely think there is something in his head when he runs with the ball though. Idk that I would say he’s “soft” or anything like that; I do think the staff has told him to be sure to try to avoid injury though and sometimes maybe that’s in his head.
 
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#47
#47
It's not too late to coach him to be on the balls of his feet when he throws. That is fundamental and he absolutely should be doing it.

I think we can design better running plays for him. With his size we should never be handing the ball to a running back 5 yards behind the LOS on 4th and 1/2. Florida ran Tebow almost EVERY time they needed 1-3 yards for 2 years--and he almost always got the first down. I remember a looong time ago, Kentucky had a very big, agile QB. They played us at Neyland, and they just ran the guy on quarterback sweeps all day, with lead blockers, and we could not stop it and lost the game.

I thought Heupel was a little too pass happy in the first half, especially given that Uva couldn't stop our running attack. They were dropping two safeties deep and made it difficult to complete the many mid-range passes we were attempting. Too many--shades of Jim Chaney.

When we just started pounding the ball, late in the first half and into the 3rd quarter, we pulled away.
 
#48
#48
wmcovol said:
I’d prefer he get down unless it’s absolutely necessary.
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I want Milton to be a threat to run but am not that interested in him actually running the ball. We have at least 3 guys that are very effective runners. If Milton is enough of a threat to occupy a defender, I’m happy.
 
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#49
#49
AllVol23 said:
I noticed this also. Could be something to watch. But here’s my main concern, and I am a fan of Joe’s, but the guy is charmin soft to be as big as he is. I keep waiting for the Cam Newton style Joe to show up but he’s afraid of contact. Short yd situations he has to be the guy.
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I don’t think he is afraid of contact as much as he tries to make sure he doesn’t put his self in a awkward position to get hurt. I agree sometimes his runs seem soft. But there are other times he runs hard. He plowed a Virginia corner good one time today. I think we will see more aggressive running from Joe as the season goes. He also ran a QB sneak in with ease once today. I think he is just trying to run safe and smart right now in certain situations. Just my thoughts there. GBO
 
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#50
#50
I don't think Milton is afraid of contact. The way he bitch-slapped that defender today doesn't look like a guy afraid of contact. I think he is mindful of the coaches warnings not to take unnecessary risks, as we have a rookie behind him. If he were to get knocked out a few games from injury it might probably ruin the season.
 
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