Joe Milton after Tennessee's loss at Florida: 'We're gonna come together or we're gonna separate'
Joe Milton III was already thinking about the response Saturday night, before he ever left Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville. There were only two ways forward for Tennessee after a disappointing 29-16 loss to the Gators in The Swamp.
“It’s all about if we’re gonna come together,” Milton said during his postgame press conference, “or we’re gonna separate.”
The Vols (2-1, 0-1 SEC) jumped out to a 7-0 lead over Florida after a quick touchdown drive on their first possession, but trailed 26-7 at halftime after giving up 20 unanswered points in the second quarter.
‘You just want to fix those (mistakes) and go execute the next week’
Self-inflicted wounds — 10 penalties for 79 yards, a costly interception in the second quarter and the defense’s inability to get off the field while Florida went 7-for-8 on third down — made the 19-point hole too big to climb out of.
“These games right here lead you to the most important things in life,” Milton said. “You look at the game and you be like, oh man, we lost to Florida, right? And you go back in the locker room Sunday and you watch the game and you just see all the mistakes you made as a team, personally and you want to just fix those and go execute the next week.”
Tennessee has to find a response against UTSA on Saturday (4 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network) at Neyland Stadium, the first of three straight home games. The Vols host South Carolina in their SEC home opener in two weeks, then Texas A&M on October 14, after an open date.
What the response looks like, Milton said, is up to the Vols.
“Only people who find that out is us,” he said. “We’ll find out. We’ll find that out within the team … get in there, we watch (the film) and go back Monday. You go execute and get ready for the following week. Can’t go back and change anything that happened in this game right here.”
Up Next: Tennessee vs. UTSA, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, SEC Network
Milton had an 11-yard touchdown to Ramel Keyton for the touchdown on the opening drive, but Tennessee couldn’t get back into the end zone until Bru McCoy got open for a 55-yard touchdown in the fourth, to make it 29-16. McCoy finished with five catches for 94 yards, including the touchdown.
Tennessee finished with 393 yards of total offense, with 106 yards rushing and 287 passing, but couldn’t overcome its slow start in the first half.
“I think a loss like this will really light a fire under anybody,” McCoy said. “I know me personally, this feeling and the way this feels, I’m not gonna take this lightly. I think everybody else on the offense will fall in line on that. So hopefully moving forward there won’t be laboring days or nights. Not that we’ll be perfect, but we’re gonna work for it.”
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said during his postgame press conference that his team is still “absolutely” capable of playing better than the showing at Florida.
“But we gotta be better,” he said. “ … We gotta go back to work and continue to grow.”
