Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton went through quite a bit in his college career, starting off at Michigan before eventually leaving for Tennessee and taking over as the Volunteers starter after a couple years waiting in the wings.
He was afforded some excellent opportunities in the SEC, not the least of which was the chance to compete against some of the nation’s best.
Nothing sticks out more to Milton than the program’s 52-49 upset of Alabama during the 2022 season, which ended a long drought for the Volunteers and set off an absolutely bonkers party in Knoxville, Tenn.
“I have a lot of them,” Joe Milton said of his favorite college memories, joining the Andy Staples On3 show. “The biggest one is beating our biggest rival, Alabama. That was a long night. Man, we seen the field goal post by our apartment and that’s way downtown. It was a whole bunch of people carrying it. It was like a parade.”
The goal posts famously took a swim in the river next to the stadium, as well. And the party lasted long into the night. After all, it’s not every day you beat the Crimson Tide.
But there were plenty of other good moments for Milton during his career, too. Tennessee played in the Orange Bowl after that Alabama win and managed to knock off a top-10 Clemson team to win 11 games.
That was Milton’s coming out party, in a lot of ways, at Tennessee. He finished with 251 yards passing and three touchdowns as the Volunteers won 31-14. It set him up going forward into his final season as the starter.
And though Tennessee wasn’t quite as good in 2023, the program still won nine games and reached the Citrus Bowl, which it won convincingly.
All of it left Joe Milton more than satisfied with his college career.
“Absolutely. We didn’t accomplish things that we wanted to accomplish, but in life, man, that’s what’s going to happen and you’ve just got to be able to roll with it,” he said. “Sometimes you’ve got to take blows and be able to swing back when life presents itself.”
Now, fresh off a college career that saw him throw for 5,353 yards and 37 touchdowns, Milton will get his shot at the NFL Draft.
His size and arm strength alone are sure to make some teams fall in love with him. And it only takes one team to find a landing spot in the NFL, where the real work can begin.
For Tennessee fans and Joe Milton, it was a match that worked out in the end.
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