Joey Halzle doesn't believe Nico Iamaleava would operate Tennessee offense better than Joe Milton
Saturday wasn’t Joe Milton‘s finest moment. Nonetheless, Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle isn’t ready to doubt the QB yet. He certainly isn’t willing to replace him.
On Tuesday, Halzle bluntly answered whether Tennesee would find more success with backup QB Nico Iamaleava taking over the starting spot.
“No,” Halzle said. “It’s operation. Joe is operating at a really high level. No.”
In three games this season, Milton is completing 63.9% of his passes for 716 yards and six touchdowns while throwing just one interception. Milton’s hot start was frozen during Tennessee’s 29-16 loss to Florida on Saturday.
In the contest, Milton completed 20 of 34 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns. However, Milton also threw a pivotal interception in the first half. Additionally, the senior leader couldn’t convert when necessary. The Volunteers were 0-3 on fourth-down conversion attempts.
To pile on, UT struggled to find control in the Swamp. The Vols committed five pre-snap turnovers in the loss. Halzle doesn’t blame Milton for the mistakes.
“His decision-making, his calmness on the sidelines,” Halzle said, “he kept the calm within the storm out there, talking to him on the headset. Man, he was after every single drive, he was like, ‘Alright, cool, like, move on. What we got coming next? So the guy’s really even-keeled, his decision-making is really good, was accurate with the football. The guy played a good game. [I] was happy with that.”
Is Nico Iamaleava the answer?
Milton can only afford so many mistakes. Iamaleava was a five-star prospect and the No. 1 player from California in the Class of 2023. Further, the 6-foot-5 QB was the third-best quarterback in the nation, according to On3 Industry Rankings.
Despite his impressive resumé, Iamaleava has only seen the field once this season, completing two passes for 11 yards in Tennessee’s season-opening win over Virginia. The talented freshman isn’t letting the situation discourage him. In fact, he’s helping the man ahead of him on the depth chart.
“I just give him a couple of keys to ID for me while I’m out there just because I can’t see everything,” Milton said. “So just having an extra set of eyes other than my coaches out there and also just he’s young. Just giving him an opportunity to see things how I see it, and just in a different way so when you he out there, it’s not confusing to him.”
Milton and Iamaleava will look to help Tennessee bounce back this weekend. On Saturday, the Volunteers will square off against UTSA at 4 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.