Tennessee football spring game takeaways: Joe Milton, Nico Iamaleava and Gaston Moore
Quarterbacks Joe Milton and Nico Iamaleava gave fans a small but satisfying taste of their talents in Tennessee football's Orange and White spring game Saturday.
Less than four months after the Vols went 11-2 and won the Orange Bowl, Neyland Stadium was lively again with a crowd of 58,473 – the sixth largest in the history of UT’s spring game.
They saw Milton’s well-known arm strength on a few passes. And they cheered when Iamaleava, the 5-star freshman, jogged onto the field for his first play.
Here are the key observations from UT’s spring game.
Joe Milton tossed a deep pass, touchdown
Milton, the Orange Bowl MVP and presumed starter, handed the ball to backup running backs and passed to backup wide receivers. But he still flashed his skills in a few moments.
Milton was 9-of-13 passing for 79 yards and one touchdown.
Just before halftime, Milton connected with Kaleb Webb for a 39-yard pass along the sideline. Then he rolled right and hit Webb for a 4-yard TD pass.
Webb, a 4-star recruit in the 2022 signing class, was one of his top targets in an abbreviated receiving corps.
Nico Iamaleava flashed his talent
Iamaleava’s best pass came just before halftime.
He was flushed out of pocket to the right and tossed a dart on the run to 4-star freshman tight end Ethan Davis. It zipped just over a defender’s hand and covered 30 yards down the sideline.
Iamaleava finished 8-of-16 passing for 112 yards.
Who did not play made a difference
Take what you saw with a grain of salt because several key players were out or limited.
On offense, Jabari Small, Jaylen Wright, Bru McCoy, Ramel Keyton, Squirrel White and Oregon transfer Dont’e Thornton did not play. That means the top two running backs and top four wide receivers were out.
Coach Josh Heupel said all the wide receivers except McCoy would've been cleared to play if it was a regular-season game.
On defense, defensive lineman Da’Jon Terry, defensive end Caleb Herring, linebacker Aaron Beasley, cornerback Warren Burrell, cornerback Brandon Turnage, cornerback De’Shawn Rucker and safety Jourdan Thomas were among the players who did not play.
Another quarterback among spring stars
Gaston Moore, a walk-on, shined as the No. 3 quarterback. He tossed TD passes to Dayton Sneed, a walk-on from Donelson Christian Academy, and tight end Hunter Salmon. Moore, a redshirt junior, appeared in three games last season and was 4-of-5 passing for 30 yards. He transferred to UT from Central Florida to join coach Josh Heupel.
Freshman running back DeSean Bishop, a former Karns standout, broke a 17-yard run. And freshman Cameron Seldon broke a 24-yard TD run.
Newcomers shined on defense
Defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott is one of eight Division I transfers debuting this spring. He showed his pass-rushing ability by sacking Milton.
Freshman linebacker Arion Carter, a former Smyrna standout, also made a sack. He is a 4-star signee who could crack the rotation early in his career.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. Twitter @AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football spring game: How Joe Milton, Nico Iamaleava did
