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Josh Heupel and Tennessee picked up a dominant win over UConn Saturday in its homecoming game, picking up some momentum and confidence before a tough stretch late in the season.
The Vols offense was explosive in the matchup, but its defense also posted a big game with 3 defensive touchdowns.
Though he didn’t need to play very long past halftime, Joe Milton had a strong game with 254 passing yards, a pair of passing touchdowns and a score on the ground. Milton continues to get better as the season goes on, and Heupel praised his growth after the game.
“He’s still a young starter within our system,” Heupel said in his postgame press conference. “There’s a lot of new pieces and moving pieces around him…We’ve continued to grow.”
After Milton came out, Vols’ 5-star freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava came into the game and picked up his first career touchdown.
“Nico went out, I thought he handled all parts of the game really well,” Heupel said. “I thought he was timely with his feet…Really solid performance from him.”
Heupel had the opportunity to play plenty of players who don’t see the field often, something that is huge when each and every game can be a tight one.
“Those guys don’t get many opportunities in games,” Heupel said. “And they’re here every day putting in work like everybody else.”
A new face made an appearance in Tennessee’s offensive scheme Saturday. Dee Williams, the electric return man for the Vols, got his first offensive snaps of the season. Heupel mentioned in his press conference that he wanted to get Williams in the game on offense last week against Kentucky, but the situation wasn’t right.
Tennessee has a tough game next week against Missouri, and the Vols will face Georgia in the following week.
