Quarterback McKenzie Milton leads Florida State on touchdown drive

It’s been a long time coming for Florida State quarterback McKenzie Milton to get back into college football (over 1,000 days).

Following a life-altering leg injury in 2018, Milton finally got his first taste of college football action this evening.

Below is his first completion of the 2021 season for Florida State.

Welcome back, McKenzie Milton! 👏👏👏@McKenzieMil10 | @FSUFootball

📺: ABC
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— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) September 6, 2021

Milton completed four of his four pass attempts for 36 yards on his opening drive for the Seminoles.

He looked like the McKenzie Milton of old tonight, like the same quarterback that was once one of the most prolific quarterbacks in college football.

He led the Seminoles down the field, where they scored a touchdown with 5:53 left in the contest. Running back Treshaun Ward took the handoff from Milton, then took it two yards for the score. The touchdown score cut Notre Dame’s lead to 38-34.

Milton’s comeback from major injury

At UCF, Milton saw tremendous success. He threw for 8,683 yards, 72 touchdowns and 22 interceptions, adding 1,078 yards and 20 touchdowns rushing. In his two full seasons as UCF’s starter, the Knights did not lose a single game. Milton’s UCF career came to an abrupt end at the end of the 2018 season when he went down with a major leg injury.

Not only did Milton miss the remainder of the 2018 season, but he missed the entirety of the 2019 and 2020 seasons as well. As he neared his return to the football field, Milton knew that he had to do so away from UCF. Dillon Gabriel took over for Milton as UCF’s starting quarterback, and Milton thought that Gabriel deserved that job without competition.

This led to Milton’s tough decision to transfer. He ultimately ended up at Florida State, where he will continue to fight to become the Seminoles’ starting quarterback.

“I have one shot to go chase a dream,” Milton said when he announced his intention to transfer from UCF. “A lifelong dream to play in the NFL.”

High School bio

Milton was a three-star prospect coming out of high school, attending Mililani High School in Kapolei, Hawaii. He was the 2014 Gatorade Player of the Year in Hawaii. The prolific signal-caller was also named the 2014 USA Today Hawaii Offensive Player of the Year. For his entire high school career, he threw for 7,303 passing yards, 81 passing touchdowns and a 65.5 completion percentage in 34 games. A dynamic runner as well, Milton also rushed for 1,810 yards and 18 rushing touchdowns in his high school career.

On3’s Stephen Samra, Jonathan Wagner, and Austin Brezina also contributed to this report.