Milton is magical, but rally falls short
After McKenzie Milton dislocated his knee in 2018, doctors didn’t know if he’d be able to keep his leg. His surgeon hoped he’d be able to walk without pain eventually.
Playing again? That would be nothing short of miraculous.
Which makes Sunday beyond belief. In his first game at Florida State, the UCF grad transfer came off the bench to lead the Seminoles back against
No. 9 Notre Dame before a missed field goal in overtime led to a 41-38 loss.
The Hawaii native and two-time AAC offensive player of the year backed up Jordan Travis, who had flashes of success but also threw three interceptions that led directly to Irish touchdowns.
But Travis left with an apparent injury in the fourth quarter with FSU trailing 38-28. Second-year coach Mike Norvell turned to Milton, who made his first appearance since that ghastly knee dislocation against USF in November 2018.
“It was time to roll,” said Milton, who completed his first pass to Ja’Khi Douglas for a 22-yard gain.
Milton’s first drive ended with a two-yard touchdown run by Treshaun Ward. He later helped set up Ryan Fitzgerald’s game-tying field goal in the final minute of regulation. Fitzgerald missed wide right on Florida State’s first possession of overtime, and Notre Dame kicker Jonathan Doerer booted a 41-yarder to give the Fighting Irish the win.
KELLY’S ODD COMMENT
Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly was attempting to make a joke. His, uh, execution could have been better.
“Yeah, you know, I’m in favor of execution,” Kelly told sideline reporter Katie George after the game. “Maybe our entire team needs to be executed after tonight.”
Kelly’s curious comment prompted backlash on social media and a question about the remark during his postgame news conference.
“It’s an old John McKay quote,” Kelly said, referencing the late former football coach, who led USC to four national titles before taking over the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “I was kidding. It was tongue in cheek. It wasn’t funny?”
According to legend, at one point during the Bucs’ 26-game losing streak from 1976 to 1977, he was asked to comment on his team’s execution. “I’m in favor of it,” McKay replied.