College football news: How Dan Lanning beat Nick Saban, Peyton Manning’s Joe Milton infatuation
By John Buhler
College football news: Peyton Manning is really drinking that Joe Milton Kool-Aid
Tennessee football legend Peyton Manning saw the Joe Milton practice experience up close in person at his family’s passing academy and is going back to the punch bowl for more of that Orange Vols Kool-Aid. Milton can really sling it. That is simply undeniable. The problem is he rarely plays like he does in practice during games that count. That could be changing, but let’s be patient.
Admittedly, this is the second-best team in my alma mater’s division. I’m not stupid. Josh Heupel is doing a great job in Knoxville, but he will have to make do without Alex Golesh, Hendon Hooker and Jalin Hyatt this season. Golesh now leads South Florida Bulls. Hooker backs up Jared Goff in Detroit. Hyatt looks to build branches off his limited route tree for one Brian Daboll in New York.
Could Milton be the first Vols star to win the Heisman Trophy? I wouldn’t be shocked. The talent has always been there, but it is a matter of putting it all together. Frankly, he is probably the most talented starting-level quarterback in the SEC entering this season. I would love to see him go 11-1 as the Vols starter during the regular season, and get that invite to New York Hooker never got.
If Heupel can build off last year’s team success with Milton, then Tennessee can make the playoff.