Everything Joe Milton said after Tennessee fell apart in the second half at Alabama

Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton III completed 28 of 41 passes for 271 yards and two touchdowns while also leading the Vols on the ground with 15 rushes for 58 yards in the 34-20 loss to Alabama Saturday afternoon at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

Milton led Tennessee (5-2, 2-2 SEC) to a 20-7 lead at halftime, but Alabama answered with 27 straight points in the second half to rally for the rivalry win.

Here’s everything Milton said after the loss:

Trying to get the momentum back in a second half like the one Tennessee had at Alabama

“You just gotta keep going. You gotta play the next play, you know? That’s offense and how we operate. You gotta be able to play the next play no matter where the momentum is. You gotta be able to play the next play and play assignment sound.”

What Tennessee has to do differently to have more success in the red zone

“Nothing. Just do your job. That’s all that matters. That’s all it comes down to. Just doing your job at a high level.”

Running more against Alabama and lowering his shoulder trying to pick up yards

“I don’t know. It’s just me versus the next guy. Who’s gonna win and who wants to battle. That’s how I look at it. I mean, you gotta be able to have the mindset to know that you dominate any time in the game. So I see a guy trying to come tackle me and I’m running straight up and it’s just one on one, I’m gonna win that battle.”

What Alabama did differently in the second half after Tennessee led 20-7 at halftime

“They didn’t do anything different. They just executed as a team. And I feel like that’s what we needed to do in that second half. Go out there, execute. And just remember that it’s 0-0. You gotta play for 30 (more) minutes.”

Why Tennessee wasn’t able to execute as a team in the second half

“Just wasn’t assignment sound. Certain guys wasn’t doing their job, taking turns. I’ll take full responsibility for that just because I’m the quarterback, but also I lead this team, it’s my team. So being able to full responsibility in that and having guys assignment sound for the next game is gonna be very important.”

Tennessee going for it on fourth downs and getting stopped

“It can be frustrating, but at the end of the day, you gotta be able to play the, uh, the next play or get ready for the next drive. So you never know what happens. We have a great defense, so, um, just having full trust in them, knowing that they’ll get the ball back for us and being able to go out there and execute.”

What he saw on the second fourth-down attempt

“Just man versus man. You just gotta go get it, to be honest. That’s all I can said about that one.”

What went wrong for Tennessee in the second half

“You just gotta do your assignment. You gotta do your job at a high level. That’s all we’ve been preaching all week. Just do your job at a high level. And we stopped doing our job at a high level, so therefore we got a result that we didn’t want. But we got a result that we (deserved) because we didn’t play at a high level.”

If he felt like he played at a high level

“I mean, no. Because we lost, so I didn’t play at a high level either.”

The confidence of this Tennessee team

“This team has great confidence. These guys come in, no matter if we lose or win, these guys come in every day with the same energy, pushing me. I push them guys and they also come in there because they believe in themselves. Every individual in that locker room believe in themselves, that they’ll get the job done. So the confidence always gonna stay high for these guys.”

Why Tennessee wasn’t able to get the job done

“I mean, guys just weren’t playing at a high level. And as you gotta take full responsibility at that. You just gotta play as one team and one sound. You gotta play on one sound, you gotta play accordingly. You gotta be able to communicate and be able to process it. Nothing changed from the first quarter, second quarter, so just gotta be able to be able to go no matter what.”

What he needs to do when he feels like Tennessee isn’t playing assignment sound

“Nothing to do different. Everybody on the team has a wristband on their wrist, (on) their left or right wrist that says, take a deep breath, just breathe. Where are we right now? We’re right here, right now. So just being able to just look at your wristband or being able to just take a deep breath and understand where you’re at, embrace the moments. We all prayed for moments like this when we were younger, so being able to just embrace the moments and take a deep breath and understand where you’re at, just do your job. That’s all that matters.”

What Tennessee has to do differently to avoid that kind of slow start to a half

“You gotta come out swinging early. You gotta put a guy away. You gotta put a guy to sleep early. I feel like if you do that, I feel like the momentum will be on our side for the whole game.”