Where are Joe Milton haters now after Tennessee football beat Kentucky? | Mailbag

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Tennessee football fans love quarterback Joe Milton again.

Or, at least, his biggest supporters are the loudest after Milton played well in the Vols’ 33-27 win over Kentucky on Saturday.

Many fans praised Milton. Some defended him against past criticism. And they asked how much more is possible when he plays well.

About 100 questions were submitted by UT fans via our free Vols text group. Topics ranged from officiating to bowl projections. But Milton was the most popular subject of interest.

No. 16 UT (6-2) plays Connecticut (1-7) on Saturday (noon ET, SEC Network) at Neyland Stadium. But first, let’s dive into this week's Vols mailbag.

Will Joe Milton receive the praise he earned for that balanced performance?

Yes, I think so. And that already began before the game.

If you watched “College Gameday,” “SEC Nation” or other national shows, you heard praise for Milton for his performance in the Alabama game (271 yards passing, two TDs). The criticism is stronger locally because UT fans have a stake in the outcome, and that’s understandable.

But this was another good performance. Milton completed 18-of-21 passes (career-high 86%) for 228 yards, one TD and no interceptions.

Milton’s play won’t please everyone, but that’s reasonable too. An opinion about a player usually won’t change in one game or two. And the passing game still has limitations.

Milton hasn’t played at an All-SEC level or an awful level. He’s somewhere in the middle, so there’s room for praise and criticism.

Where are the Joe Milton detractors now?

There are still a few in my inbox. But I don’t think UT fans must be pro-Milton or anti-Milton.

When the offense plays well, Milton will be praised. When it plays poorly, he’ll be criticized. Right or wrong, he gets the bulk of both because he plays the most visible and impactful position.

So it makes sense that judgment about Milton is tied to the team’s performance more than other positions. It’s not always fair, but it’s understandable.

SPARKS Forget the formula: Tennessee winning by any means necessary

Why do we still have stupid fans tweeting that Milton should be benched?

It’s one of two things, or both.

No. 1, some UT fans want Hendon Hooker 2.0. But that’s just not going to happen this season. Milton has strengths but also limitations. And he can only be as good as his receivers, who aren’t to the level of last season's ultra-talented group.

No. 2, some UT fans assume the player they haven’t seen (freshman Nico Iamaleava) is better than the one they’re watching (Milton). That’s a big assumption and based mostly on Iamaleava’s five-star rating rather than his current development. Be patient.

Why was Joe Milton so much better against Kentucky?

We think of Milton as a finished product because he’s 23 years old and playing his sixth year of college football. But every player has room to grow with experience, and UT coaches are adjusting to his play, as well.

Also, keep in mind that Milton’s career-best completion percentage was aided by his receivers not dropping a single pass. Turn a couple of those catches into drops, and Milton finishes with less than 200 yards and the perception of his performance changes.

How many holding penalties were called on Alabama and Kentucky?

None. Neither Alabama nor Kentucky was flagged for a live-ball penalty against UT. They were all pre-snap penalties like false start and offside.

I don’t question officiating often unless it’s a critical play that decided the game. But as the saying goes, holding could be called on virtually every play. So it doesn’t make sense that a single holding penalty wasn’t called in two games, especially when the opponent is having to block some of the SEC’s best pass rushers.

We’ll see if coach Josh Heupel’s silent protest in back-to-back postgame press conferences helps his argument or makes it worse.

Can you explain the 10-second runoff that ended the game?

In the final minute of the first half or regulation, if a player injury is the only reason for stopping the clock, the opponent has the option of a 10-second runoff. The NCAA rule was put in place to prevent teams from stopping the clock by faking an injury at the end of a game.

Kentucky had no timeouts remaining, so the player injury gave UT the option to run off 10 seconds of the game clock. That dropped the game clock below the 40-second play clock, so UT didn’t have to run another play.

I’m not sure if the injury to Keeshawn Silver was legitimate or fake, but there were reasons to question it. In watching the replay, Silver briefly stood up after the third-down play and then dropped to a knee and put his weight on his right arm. When he walked off the field alongside an athletic trainer, Silver was favoring his right arm as if that’s where the injury occurred.

If the injury was fake, it cost the Wildcats one more play.

Why doesn’t Tennessee run a wildcat package?

I’m sure it’s in UT’s playbook. But the idea of it goes against the Vols’ offensive principles.

They want to spread out defenses with wide splits for their receivers. A wildcat package does the opposite. With a running back in shotgun formation, there’s little threat of passing, so it condenses the space the defense must cover.

And UT’s offensive line isn’t overpowering in the run game. It relies on scheme and spacing rather than raw power to open up running lanes.

Why did the defensive backs give so much cushion?

I’m not going to pretend to break down every coverage UT was playing. But generally, the Vols’ pass coverage is very dependent on the effectiveness of their pass rush.

When the pass rush is good, the coverage is usually pretty good. When the pass rush doesn’t get to the quarterback, the secondary is exposed. UT had only one sack and three quarterback hurries.

That relationship of pass rush to coverage exists for every defense. But it’s especially true when a team lacks cornerbacks that can lock down receivers in man coverage. Either they’ll get beat in man coverage or a soft spot will be exposed in zone coverage when the quarterback gets extra time in the pocket.

Should freshmen like Nico Iamaleava and Rickey Gibson play more against UConn?

Play more? Yes, if UT pulls away early. But start? No.

The offense is finally finding its footing with Milton. It would be foolish to disrupt that with SEC tough games against Missouri and Georgia ahead.

Gibson played two defensive snaps in the fourth quarter against Kentucky. Young defensive backs should get plenty of playing time against UConn, but don’t expect the rotation to change much down the stretch. These coaches value experience in the secondary.

How can Dylan Sampson get into the game earlier?

Perhaps the Vols could put him at slot receiver early in the game. But that would require substitutions within a drive, which UT doesn't like.

But I’m not sure you want to put Dylan Sampson in the backfield too early because it would take Jaylen Wright, arguably the offense’s best player, out of the lineup.

Wright was injured against Kentucky, and Heupel didn’t provide details on his status. But if Wright is healthy, he’s on pace for a 1,000-yard season. Sampson will be the No. 1 running back next season. And Jabari Small is a strong complementary back.

UT has a very good rotation at running back, and Sampson appears pleased with his role. It’s a good problem to have.

Milton running the ball is now a big plus. Why did it take so long?

The plan was always there, but it hit speed bumps along the way.

Milton ran the ball nine times against Virginia in the opener. The Florida game got away too quickly, and UT abandoned the run in a comeback attempt. Milton had an 81-yard TD run against UTSA, but he injured his knee later in that game.

That sidelined his rushing for a couple weeks. But Milton had a career-high 15 rushing attempts against Alabama and he ran it 10 times against Kentucky.

Also, the deeper the Vols go into the season, the less long-term risks there are to Milton getting injured. UT has only four regular-season games and a bowl remaining.

Why didn’t Josh Heupel take a shot at the end zone before halftime?

UT had the ball at the Kentucky 16-yard line with 7 seconds remaining. Heupel said he thought the clock would be changed to 9 seconds. And he indicated that he might’ve run an offensive play if he had those 2 additional seconds.

“(We were) far enough back (that I) didn’t trust all of it playing out,” Heupel said. “You can take your shot for sure. But in that situation, felt like we needed to get three (points).”

It’s a reasonable distinction. With only 7 seconds remaining, Milton would have to pass to the first receiver in his read, and that receiver would have to beat coverage immediately to get open. Neither of those seem likely for UT’s offense right now. With 9 seconds remaining, Milton could’ve gone to his second read.

Heupel knows the limitations of his passing game. That’s why he kicked the field goal. It's not ideal, but it's reality.

What bowl do you think the Vols will play in?

My guess would be the ReliaQuest Bowl (Jan. 1, Tampa) or the Gator Bowl (Dec. 29, Jacksonville). But a lot could happen in the next few weeks.

The Citrus Bowl is still in play, but UT would need to go 9-3 or 10-2 and rely on Ole Miss and LSU losing. That’s very possible considering their schedules.

A New Year’s Six Bowl is even possible for the Vols, but they would need to win out and get help from the College Football Playoff selections. If an SEC team doesn’t make the CFP, every SEC team is bumped down one spot in the bowl selections.

Beating Kentucky made a Florida bowl a likelihood for the Vols, which was a big step.

How does Tennessee solve the red zone problem?

Well, it's definitely an issue. UT scores a TD in only 51.4% of its red zone trips, ranked 111th nationally. Last season, UT ranked No. 1 in that category at 79.1%.

But it’s not an easy problem to fix. UT’s rushing offense relies on scheme and spacing rather than raw power, so a condensed space isn’t ideal.

And for a passing offense to succeed in those cramped quarters, it needs quick decision-making by the quarterback and overwhelming skillsets by receivers. UT is solid in both areas but not elite.

ADAMS: Tennessee football's resourcefulness bodes well for stretch run

Can Tennessee upset Georgia playing like it did against Kentucky?

Maybe. The chances are certainly better after the Kentucky game than before.

To beat No. 1 Georgia, UT would need Milton, the rushing offense and rushing defense to play as well as it did against Kentucky. But the Vols also would need a more effective pass rush and a few takeaways on defense and TDs rather than field goals in the red zone on offense.

But the way UT played Saturday is the minor development in that matchup. The bigger storyline is how dominant Georgia was in a 43-20 win over Florida.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football mailbag: Fans love quarterback Joe Milton again