Hendon Hooker was a major reason Tennessee football was able to pick up its first 10-win regular season since 2003. The signal-caller finished the year with 3,135 passing yards and 27 touchdowns before going down against South Carolina with a torn ACL. He only threw two interceptions.
Joe Milton III took over the starting job in the Vols’ season finale at the Vanderbilt Commodores, throwing for 147 yards and a touchdown in a torrential downpour.
Despite his modest stats and his struggles in the past, Tennessee football still believes in him. Tight end Jacob Warren has seen the success of Hooker and the work Milton has put in first hand.
“We’re going to rely on (Milton) really heavily, and it’s good for him to be able to go in there and build up some confidence and be able to go show exactly what it is that he can do and that he’s prepared to do,” Warren told Off the Hook Sports.
With Hooker’s Tennessee football career finished, Milton is the new captain of the ship, per se. National media has discussed the worries of the potential falloff from a Heisman contender to the backup in Milton. Warren has not shared these concerns.
“We heard it on the College football playoff selection stream, the broadcast is talking about how big of a dropoff it is that we lost our starting quarterback, that’s the reason we’re not here,” Warren said. “So, Joe’s been hearing this whole time of, ‘this is such a disappointment,’ and I think he’s just excited to go out and just be able to prove everybody wrong and just ball out.”
Milton’s reputation precedes him with Tennessee football. The senior quarterback lost the starting job to Hooker originally due to accuracy concerns.
There is no doubting Milton’s arm strength – the quarterback is able to throw 60+ yards with ease – but his arm strength has gotten him in trouble at times.
Warren dismisses any doubt about Milton and expressed full faith in his quarterback lighting up the stat sheet in the Orange Bowl.
“You’re not going to be able to argue with it,” Warren said. “I think he’s going to go out there, and he’s going to just play lights out, and it’ll be great, and then everybody will be super excited for next season.”
Tennessee has never won a Heisman Trophy, and Hooker was recently snubbed from the Heisman ceremony in New York City. Warren said he thinks everybody will believe in him for next year after the bowl and that Tennessee football will be pushing him as their next Heisman candidate.
“You know how it is around here, so I’m just excited for him to get that opportunity to go out there and show everybody what he can do,” he said.
