Pass 1: Throws on 2nd down and 9 to Jacob Warren after rolling out. Nice throw, pass was good for 4 yards.
Pass 2: Throws on 3rd and 5, hits Jalen Hyatt on a comeback route, stayed in pocket, good for 6 yards and a first down.
Pass 3: Threw on 1st and 10 to Javonta Payton at the sideline. Accurate throw, good for 6 yards.
Pass 4: Very next play, short throw to Javonta Payton again on the sideline, good for first down and then some.
Pass 5: 2nd down throw down the left sideline incomplete. Threw it too high for receiver Hyatt. However, there was a personal foul that may have impacted the throw. Play was negated
Pass 6: Scrambles outside of the pocket, extends the play, hits Fant on the sideline, accurate throw. Good for 6 yards.
Pass 7: 1st and 10. Overthrows Cedric Tillman by at least 7 yards. Tillman beat the DBs, but still an overthrow by Milton.
Pass 8: Short throw to Hyatt. Accurate, but Hyatt tackled immediately. Good for about 6 yards.
Pass 9: 1st and 10. Has an absurd amount of time, throws a strike to Hyatt on the left sideline, Hyatt makes a man miss gets the 1st and more.
Pass 10: Scrambles outside of the pocket, gives a strike to Jalen Hyatt across the middle of the field, again, absurd amount of time to throw.
Pass 11: Pass complete to Velus Jones, however, threw it a bit behind him, which led to an early tackle, and not much positive yardage or space to run. (This play was negated by a holding penalty)
Pass 12: Completed pass to Cedric Tillman, hit him right in the numbers, good for 8 yards. (The next play was the one where Tiyon was in the middle of the field wide open jumping up and down waving his arms, but Joe instead took a sack, leading to 4th down.)
Pass 13: Threw an absolute bullet across the middle of the field to Hyatt. Hit Hyatt in between the numbers but it was too hot to handle and Hyatt dropped it.
Pass 14: 0:01 on the clock before the half. Threw ball out of bounds. Play was negated due to flag.
Pass 15: 0:01 on the clock before the half. Threw ball into end zone. Gave Tillman a chance to catch it, but a Hail Mary is just about getting it there. There were 4 white jerseys surrounding Tillman.
End of 1st Half
Pass 16: Has all day to throw on 1st and 10. Overthrows Tillman by maybe 1-2 yards on what would have been a touchdown.
Pass 17: Threw to the sideline to Javonta Payton. Pass was caught, but with a foot out of bounds, therefore incomplete. This led to a 4th down.
Pass 18: Overthrew Tillman again down the right sideline, however, pass interference was called. Tillman had a shot at it had the defense played it clean.
Pass 19: Had all day to throw, scrambled to the left, threw to Hyatt about 6 yards downfield, but Hyatt caught it out of bounds.
Pass 20: Scrambled right, threw to the end zone at Hyatt, accurate pass, but the DB played it well and swatted it.
Pass 21: Threw to the endzone to Tillman from about the 12 yard line. Threw it too far to the front shoulder instead of the back shoulder. Jordan Rodgers commented about throwing it too far ahead. Incomplete.
Pass 22: Hit Hyatt perfectly right in front of the end zone, most likely would have been a touchdown. Hyatt dropped it, and he knew it too.
Pass 23: Threw to Velus Jones across midfield. Pass hit dirt, appeared too low. Incomplete. However, pass interference was called, so it's hard to blame it on either Milton or Jones.
Pass 24: Absolutely perfect 40 yard strike to Tillman in the end zone. Did a good job buying time in the pocket, and beautiful throw.
I realize all of this is basically my interpretation of his performance. I can't speak to how plays were supposed to go, or even which receivers were open that he missed, since TV didn't always show that.
But when I look at the passes he actually threw, he had an overthrow to Tillman that would have been a touchdown had he scaled back just a smidge (Tillman had his man beat). He had at least two throws that were impacted by pass interference or a personal foul. He had two perfect passes that were dropped by Hyatt. He overthrew Tillman by a yard or 2. He threw passes too far to the sidelines, just enough to where the receiver had to step out of bounds.
I can't comment on his rushing ability either. I don't know what plays were designed runs, and what he improvised. And I know there were some plays where he missed open receivers.
But, after watching it all a second time, I can't see where the hate is coming from. He had about two overthrows that could have been TDs. If he places that ball 3 feet behind Tillman on his back shoulder instead of his front, he would have had another TD. And had Hyatt not dropped the one on the 3 yard line, he would have had another.
Milton could have easily had a very different stat line in this game. Initially I was disappointed in his performance. But after watching it again? His throws were miles above what we were used to seeing from JG. He was throwing the ball accurately for the most part, and when he was off, he was not off by much. And aside from the fumble, he took care of the football. I didn't see any passes that I thought were "dangerous" passes, i.e. throwing into double coverage.
It's obvious he has a connection with Tillman, and if that timing and connection gets stronger, holy crap, that could be magic.
Milton won't have all day to throw like he did today in other games. But I think that may help him, as sometimes he took too long to make decisions, and then went for more ambitious throws than he should have.
My point? I don't think it was as bad as it seemed. He threw well. Not perfectly. But well. The receivers need to step up their game. And it's also obvious we tried hard to establish the running game.
I think it'll be alright. Next week will show us much more about who this team is. GBO. So nice to see the Orange and White back in Neyland again.
