Joe Milton, Vols offense preparing for tough Clemson defense
MIAMI– As Tennessee continues preparations for Clemson in the Capital One Orange Bowl Friday night at 8 pm eastern time, Vols quarterback Joe Milton and other offensive players met with reporters on site Wednesday morning.
The other Tennessee players who met with the media include running back Jabari Small, tight end Princeton Fant, wide receiver Ramel Keyton and offensive lineman Javontez Spraggins. Tennessee will practice again later this morning, Thursday morning and then get set for kickoff on Friday.
Milton came into start in place of Hendon Hooker at Vanderbilt to conclude the regular season, throwing for 147 yards on 11-of-21 passing with one touchdown in the blowout 56-0 victory. The former Michigan transfer opened the 2021 season as UT’s starter, but was injured in week two against Pittsburgh and never reclaimed his spot.
Small led the Vols with 12 rushing touchdowns and was second behind Jaylen Wright with 696 yards. Fant was a Swiss Army Knife for Tennessee this year, rushing for five scores on 12 carries, catching three touchdowns and throwing for another. Keyton stepped up huge in the absence of Cedric Tillman this season, totaling 486 yards on 27 receptions – scoring four touchdowns in the process. Spraggins started every game at left gaurd for the nation’s No. 1 offense and was an anchor for a line that finished as a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award.
The buy-in is obvious for Tennessee
Tennessee flipped the script in 2022 – jumping from seven regular season wins to 10. The Vols know the bowl game setting [across college football] has become a bit unorthodox for non-playoff teams, but that hasn’t hindered the mindset of finishing the right way. In a lot of ways, the mindset has changed for this team over the year and it’s one that happened as soon as 2021 wrapped.
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“It just came from us just in the summer workouts and spring football, everybody’s buying in a little bit more to Coach Heupel’s message, just believing in what he tells us and just seeing the fruits of our labors coming into play,” defensive lineman Tyler Baron said when asked of the teams’ focus. “So, it just helps us buy in more and more once we got a little success. I think it’s just a process that’s going to continue to grow.
“I think the buy in happened in Nashville last year with our loss to Purdue. I really do. I think after that game everybody kind of banded together and just saw what we could accomplish in the next year. And I’m excited that we have had such a great year and we get to finish here in Miami, Florida.”
Tennessee has been laser focused this season and have shown the ability to bounce back from adversity in a big way. Knowing Friday could result in the program’s first 11-win season since the 2001 campaign, the expectation is for the Vols to come out swinging and to take this one down to the wire.
Tennessee and Clemson will kickoff the Orange Bowl Friday night at 8 o’clock eastern time.
