Kirk Herbstreit: Joe Milton must answer questions about consistency, accuracy

As Joe Milton gets set to take over as the Tennessee starting quarterback this season, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit believes consistency will be the biggest factor to his success. Milton spent the past two seasons backing up Hendon Hooker but started the final two games of the season after Hooker suffered an ACL injury.

He had a shaky start in the first game against Vanderbilt, going just 11-of-21 passing for 147 yards and a touchdown. However, he bounced back in an Orange Bowl victory against Clemson to throw for 251 yards and three TDs.

Herbstreit joined JD PicKell at the On3 NIL Elite Series in Nashville, where he said that if Milton can carry over that performance into this season, the Vols will be in good shape.

“Everybody looks at Joe Milton since he was at Michigan and sees him throw the ball 75 or 80 yards and just thinks, ‘oh my gosh, this guy’s gonna be better than what we had last year with Hooker,'” the analyst said. “He had a great bowl game against Clemson. But with him, it’s not just about his physical ability. It’s about the consistency with his accuracy. If he can be what we saw against Clemson, then it’s like ‘here we go.’ They’re not gonna miss a beat.”

Milton transferred to Tennessee ahead of 2021 and actually began that season as the starter. However, after suffering an injury a couple of games into the year, Hooker took over. Milton never got the job back, and it didn’t help that he completed a combined 51.4% of his passes in that game.

However, it’s been two years since then, and the quarterback has had plenty of opportunity to grow. Herbstreit said what also will help Milton’s case to succeed this season is the offensive system that coach Josh Heupel employs. He also has a pair of exciting playmakers at his disposal in receiver Bru McCoy and Squirrel White.

“That offensive style, Oklahoma runs a version of it,” Herbstreit continued. “Ole Miss runs it. TCU’s gonna be running it. There’s versions of it out there. I call it the ‘Art Briles offense’ essentially from the Baylor days where your receiver is literally two yards off the sideline (on both sides). Spreading you out, create those vertical seams and then depending on what alignment the defense is in, you’re either gonna run the ball in a light box or now you can hit the one-on-one shot. I think you’re gonna see more and more of that offense in college football.

“Milton has that offense, to his advantage. They’ll have great receivers. They lose a couple. But I think I want to see him be more consistent (with his) decision-making and accuracy. We know what he can do with the ball in his hands.”

Tennessee is coming off of its first 11-win season since 2001 and has its sights set high in Heupel’s third season. If the Vols are to get where they want to go, however, a lot rests on the shoulders of Milton.