Rocky road at PSU hasn't derailed Milhollin
Former Panther striving for comeback in new position at receiver after second ACL surgery
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s a high schooler, there was seemingly nothing Josh Milhollin couldn't do as one of the top pure athletes to come out of South Medford High in 2010.
Milhollin was an accomplished quarterback and punter for the Panthers football team, and qualified for the state track and field meet in four events (triple jump, javelin, high jump and 4x400-meter relay).
JOSH MILHOLLIN
WHO: A 6-foot-4, 200-pound junior wide receiver at Portland State University.
PAST: Milhollin earned all-conference honors as a quarterback/punter at South Medford High and was a four-event state qualifier in track and field. The 2010 graduate held the school record in the triple jump (45-1) when he graduated and passed for 3,326 yards and 34 touchdowns with nine interceptions.
PRESENT: Milhollin is attempting a comeback from a second ACL surgery and is making a transition from quarterback to receiver.
When he chose to attend Portland State University and play football for the Vikings, it seemed as if the sky was the limit for Milhollin at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level.
That was the dream but, unfortunately, not the reality in the time sense for the 6-foot-4, 200-pounder.
In his first game at Portland State, Milhollin tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, trying to make a special teams tackle of all things.
After a year of recovery, Milhollin played in two games in his battle to become the Vikings' starting quarterback and ventured into the spring of 2013 committed more than ever to make an impact on the playing field.
But, in March, bad luck again befell Milhollin as he tore the ACL in his left knee during team drills.
Instead of giving in, however, the 22-year-old junior remains optimistic.
"You would think from an outside perspective it really wouldn't be worth it at this point, with two surgeries and the fact that I haven't played much and maybe get only 50 days off in a year as a football player," said Milhollin, "but from my perspective, just those six plays I played in the opener two years ago was worth the whole two years of redshirting. I think I'll know that it's worth it when I'm back on the field."
"And if I don't get back on the field," he added, "honestly I know I tried my best and I just wasn't cut out for it. It's definitely been a learning experience for me."
Whether it's learning how to get strength back in his knees or how to transition to a new position as wide receiver, Milhollin has taken it all in stride.
"It definitely has had its ups and downs," he said of his post-Panther experience. "There are some times when I don't know if I'm going to be able to come back from this and there are times where I can't wait to show that I can come back and am willing to do anything to play again."
While his teammates are in the early days of fall camp, Milhollin said he's doing his best to join them at some point this season. A little ahead of schedule, Milhollin has been cleared to jog and do some straight-forward sprinting and hopes to begin cutting and jumping on his repaired knee in a couple weeks.
"At this point my left knee, from when I tore it, feels phenomenal," he said. "Sometimes I honestly forget I tore my ACL and had surgery on it, my knee feels that good. I'm really excited about my recovery."
As are the Portland State coaches, who remain optimistic that Milhollin can join the team fully for the Big Sky Conference season, which begins Sept. 26 against Cal Poly.
"They want me to do as much as I can without pushing it," said Milhollin. "Coach (Nigel) Burton said that he's very hopeful that I'll be able to come back and play. As a guy who has been in his system for a few years now, and the fact that we have a lot of younger guys this year, he thinks I could help the team in a lot of different ways."
If that's on the field, it will be at wide receiver — a position that Milhollin hasn't played since he was in his Pop Warner and middle school days. In truth, though, Milhollin said his quarterback days at South Medford were more out of necessity as a replacement for the graduated A.J. Palazzolo.
"For me, honestly, I'm really excited to play wide receiver," he said. "It's a position I'm not used to but something I've played in the past and I've liked in the past. Going back to my high school days, at that time we really needed someone to play quarterback with A.J. leaving and it was just my time and I had to step up into that role. "
"It's interesting, I feel like more of a utility guy at this point," added Milhollin, who is on track to graduate in the spring of 2014 as a communications major. "You just plug me in wherever you want and I'll do whatever you want."
The only way that is possible is due to his incredible athleticism. Milhollin actually earned higher accolades as a punter his senior year — gaining first-team all-state nods — than as a quarterback despite passing for over 1,900 yards and 19 touchdowns against only three interceptions. He owned the school record in the triple jump at 45 feet, 1 inch when he graduated, and overcame a foot injury at the state track meet to finish third in the javelin (177-9) and high jump (6-4) and place fifth in the triple jump (43-9 ¾) and 4x400 relay.
Such intangibles led Burton and the Vikings staff to find a way for Milhollin to be on the field as a freshman even though he was a few rungs down the depth chart at quarterback. Milhollin actually saw some time as a scout team receiver and was a starter on the kickoff team when Portland State opened the 2011 campaign against Southern Oregon University.
In that first game, Milhollin made one special teams tackle and had a few trips down the field before suffering his first torn ACL.
"I think it was the third kickoff of the game and I was running down and got pushed from behind right when I was breaking down for a tackle," he said of the injury. "I was in a weird spot already and caught the turf weird and I felt a pop but I wasn't sure what happened. I was trying to job and cut on it on the sidelines and one of the times I tried to plant hard on it to test it and I felt it pop again and I knew that wasn't good."
When he returned for his sophomore season, Milhollin ended up as the No. 3 quarterback and wound up completing 1 of 3 passes for 7 yards with five carries for 28 yards.
He was well into a transition to receiver this past spring when he suffered his second ACL injury on a noncontact drill where you run toward a coach and he points in a direction and you're expected to break that way.
"I think I was just trying to go too fast or guessed wrong initially and I just ended up twisting my knee in a weird way," he said.
This time, Milhollin instantly knew his fate.
"It was funny because right when it happened," he added, "I just turned to everyone and said, 'I'm just gonna walk off into the training room and I'll see you guys in six months.'"
There's always the chance that Milhollin could be granted a medical redshirt if he's unable to play this season, leaving him two years left of eligibility, but he's completely focused on making it back on the field this season.
He's so excited about his new role that Milhollin reached out to one of his former teammates, Oregon State's Mitch Singler, to pick his brain on how to become a better wide receiver.
"I know he knows the game really well," said Singler, "so I just gave him a few ideas on things he could work on. I just told him to be a fly on the wall and kinda bug everyone about learning the receiver position, constantly asking them why they did the route this way because sometimes that's the best way you can learn what to do."
And when there's a will, Singler said Milhollin certainly will find a way.
"That dude's been through a lot," said Singler, "but I know he works really hard and has a lot of dedication to the game so I'm sure he'll be fine and make it back."
