Tennessee football: 3 reasons the Volunteers will beat Florida in Week 3
It’s the third Saturday in September, and that means it’s time for Florida and Tennessee football to renew their annual rivalry. The Swamp will play host for this year’s primetime event on ESPN. The game is always an intense and enthralling spectacle, and this edition won’t be any different.
With that said, I expect Tennessee to get the better of the beleaguered Gators.
Here are three reasons the Vols will win.
3. Joe Milton’s redemption song
Quarterback Joe Milton went from four-star recruit, according to 247Sports Composite, out of Florida in 2018 to a Jim Harbaugh showman — more like horror showman — during his three-year spell in Ann Arbor. However, thanks in part to the transfer portal, in 2021 Joe was given an immediate second chance in his career playing for Tennessee in Knoxville.
Unfortunately for Milton though, he once again failed his superiors and supporters, thus ultimately getting benched.
By the time 2022 came around, the pine became a permanent fixture for Milton. He was the decided second-stringer for the Vols behind Heisman-hyped Hendon Hooker. But it wasn’t all bad for Joe, as he was actually able to learn and develop his quarterbacking craft without bearing the weight of being the savior for the squad.
As such, when Milton did play, he threw for 10 touchdowns against zero interceptions, and Tennessee as a whole went on to have the school’s most successful season in over 20 years with an 11-2 recording, matching the 2001 season.
Fast forward to present day, and it looks like the fifth-year senior is finally ready to take center stage. All those trials and tribulations that Joe endured, spanning from Big Ten country to SEC territory, have shaped and molded Milton into a player who is now as mentally tough as he is physically strong and imposing (6-foot-5, 235 pounds).
Therefore, I believe that Milton will be a key reason why Tennessee will beat rival Florida on Saturday night. He’s ready to redeem himself and his past collegiate failures. Milton will bring the toughness on the ground and the power and precision through the air for Josh Heupel’s Rocky Top roster en route to the Vols’ first victory in Gainesville in 20 years.