Gary Danielson evaluates Tennessee’s offense ahead of Texas A&M
By Rolando Rosa
Published:
Gary Danielson will be on the call for CBS when No. 19 Tennessee hosts Texas A&M this weekend.
The analyst is disappointed in the lack of electrifying output from the Tennessee offense. Tennessee has scored over 40 points on 3 occasions this season. However, Danielson expected more offensively but isn’t squarely pointing the finger at senior quarterback Joe Milton.
Milton has passed for 1,164 yards, 9 touchdowns and 3 interceptions this season.
“I’m not critical, but I thought I would get more (from Milton),” Danielson said via Knox News. “It’s not just Joe, though. This team doesn’t have the firepower at wide receiver that they had a year ago. So it’s a different looking process. And because of that, everything looks a little harder.”
Danielson has yet to see any skill player emerge as a viable threat for the Vols. Squirrel White is currently Tennessee’s top receiver with 26 receptions for 276 yards.
“I think it remains to be seen. So far they haven’t,” Danielson said. “You’ve got to have a receiver they feel is a mismatch. Who is that for Tennessee? They’ve got a lot of good receivers. Right now, they don’t have a mismatch – you know, where the corner is shaking in his boots at the snap. But there’s an opportunity for someone to emerge. We’ll see what happens and who it is for Tennessee.”
Danielson believes also Milton is a step behind on his decision making.
“This offense works well when the quarterback is making and processing quick decisions and attacking,” Danielson said. “And so far against comparable talent, it seems to be a tenth of a second slower than what Josh Heupel would like.”
Danielson expects Heupel to give Milton the opportunity to make plays through the air since Texas A&M’s defense is stout against the run.
“The arrow in Joe’s quiver is his unbelievable arm talent. So he has to make that the pressure point to the game,” Danielson said. “If he can get a couple of deep balls or a big crossing route or one of those where he guns it down there where it looks like (the receiver) is covered but he puts it in there – then that will open up the rest of the game.”
Texas A&M at Tennessee is slated for a 3:30 p.m. EST kickoff on Saturday.
