KNOXVILLE — Tennessee sixth-year senior quarterback Joe Milton III talked this past summer about how he had slimmed down 10 to 12 pounds and how he would be faster on long runs.
The 6-foot-5, 235-pounder had a chance to showcase it Saturday.
Milton took a zone-read keeper 81 yards on the first play from scrimmage in a 45-14 romp against the University of Texas at San Antonio. It was a career long by a long way, topping his 54-yarder two seasons ago against Pittsburgh.
“A tire kind of blew out at the 20,” Milton said with a smile afterward, “but sometimes you can ride on a spare tire. It was good.”
The 81-yard run was the longest in Tennessee history by a player designated as a pure quarterback.