The 2022 season for the Tennessee Volunteers was one of their best in recent memory. They ranked No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season, watched Hendon Hooker have a Heisman-caliber season, and won the Orange Bowl in a dominant victory over Clemson. That same team would not be running it back, as Hooker, Jalin Hyatt, and Darnell Wright all entered the NFL Draft and are on the Detroit Lions, New York Giants, and Chicago Bears, respectively. With Hooker no longer at Tennessee, it meant this was the official start of the Joe Milton era.
Opening up the season against the Virginia Cavaliers, Milton led Tennesse to a 7-0 lead. But on one drive, in particular, Milton threw three straight incomplete passes. One of those throws was a deep pass into the hands of wide receiver Ramel Keyton, but he couldn't haul it in.
Time to take a look at the Tennessee message boards and see how they feel about the season so far. Oh, there's some overreacting going on so far.
Tennessee fans panicking over quarterback Joe Milton already
Tennessee fans have high expectations this season. After all, they were ranked 12th in the nation. But even with the 7-0 lead, the Volunteers were able to walk into halftime with a 21-3 lead.
To end the first half, Milton orchestrated back-to-back touchdown drives, one ending with a three-yard run by Dylan Sampson and the other ending with a one-yard scoring run himself. Tennessee recorded 302 yards of total offense with an average of 6.3 yards per play. Virginia, meanwhile, put up just 66 yards of offense.
Milton completed 13-of-21 pass attempts for 134 yards and a touchdown, while running for 32 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. He added another rushing score to start the second half as well.
The message boards are on fire with overreactions. College football is officially back!
