Watch: Joe Milton launches an orange 100 yards
There’s never been any doubting Joe Milton III’s arm strength throwing a football. He had a 58-yard completion to Squirrel White against Missouri and a 61-yard pass to Jalin Hyatt at Vanderbilt in the regular-season finale.
But what about throwing an orange?
Tennessee put that to test on Thursday, publishing a video on social media showing Milton throwing it 100 yards after a recent bowl practice, with the orange splattering against the back wall of the practice field.
The rocket-armed Milton will be the starting quarterback for the sixth-ranked Vols (10-2) against No. 7 Clemson (11-2) in the Capital One Orange Bowl on December 30 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN.
How far can Joe throw an orange 🍊 ❓@OrangeBowl @Qbjayy7 #GBO 🍊 pic.twitter.com/lEP9aUTEJm
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) December 22, 2022
“It’s going to be a nice challenge for our defense,” Clemson linebacker Jeremiah Trotter said of facing Milton and the Tennessee offense. “We know from watching film, they’re a fast moving offense. So we’ve been doing it, making it so we practice that in our practice with our scout team. Kinda have high tempo, in preparation for that.”
Milton took over the starting spot after Hendon Hooker tore his ACL last month at South Carolina. Milton has completed 34 of 54 passes for 720 yards and seven touchdowns this season. He has seven times for 72 yards.
After leading Tennessee to a 56-0 win at Vanderbilt to end the regular season, Milton said nothing had changed in his preparation following Hooker’s season-ending injury.
“I’ve been doing this since Hendon’s been starting, since day one,” Milton said. “Ever since that day just been preparing myself to be ready for the moment and obviously that was tonight so I had to make sure I was right for tonight.”
Up Next: No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Clemson, Orange Bowl, December 30, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
Milton threw for 147 yards and a touchdown against Vanderbilt. The Vols ran 31 times for 362 yards and six touchdowns in the win.
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Hooker completed 229 of 329 passes for 3,135 yards and 27 touchdowns, against just two interceptions, before tearing his ACL. He ran 104 times for 430 yards and five touchdowns.
Hooker stayed around the Vols after the injury, on the practice field and then on the sideline at Vanderbilt.
Milton injured his ankle against Pittsburgh in Week 2 last season, with Hooker taking over and staying put as the starter.
“If you look at Hendon himself,” Milton said, “he’s a warrior and we live together so I told him every day this week that it’s for him. I mean yeah, I’m trying to get my stats, but at the end of the day it’s for him because he put in a lot of effort for this.
“There’s some nights Hendon don’t even go to sleep, he’s up all night so when he got hurt and went down man, it’s really just playing for him.”
“The best advice he gave to me for this,” Milton added, “was just be me, keep doing what I do in practice.”
