Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker (5) escapes from Florida linebacker Shemar James (6) through the … [+] second half of an NCAA school soccer recreation Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022, in Knoxville, Tenn. Tennessee gained 38-33. (AP Photograph/Wade Payne)
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On Saturday, Tennessee regained possession of the ball on the 1-yard line with lower than three minutes remaining within the first half. The Volunteers trailed Florida, 14-10, within the SEC opener for each groups. It was a well-known place for a Tennessee program that has completed above .500 in convention play simply twice previously 14 years.
Nonetheless, not like so many instances within the earlier decade-plus, the Volunteers responded with a 99-yard landing drive, culminating with quarterback Hendon Hooker’s 1-yard go. They then opened the second half with a 10-play, 73-yard scoring drive, ending with one other Hooker landing throw, this time a 16-yarder for a 24-14 lead.
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Tennessee held on for a 38-33 victory, due to an interception within the remaining minute to clinch its greatest win in a number of years. For the practically 102,000 followers in attendance at Neyland Stadium, the sport introduced again reminiscences of the Volunteer’s golden days greater than 20 years in the past and gave them some hope that possibly the staff may contend close to the highest of the SEC.
The Volunteers (4-0) at the moment are eighth within the Related Press ballot, their highest rating since they have been seventh through the 2006 season. And Hooker, 24 and a sixth-year senior, is the principle motive why Tennessee is related once more, at the least for now.
Hooker has the fourth-best betting odds for the Heisman Trophy, in keeping with DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM and PointsBet, as compiled by RotoWire. Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud is the clear favourite at between +125 to +150. Alabama quarterback Bryce Younger, the reigning Heisman winner, is subsequent at between +350 to +500, adopted by USC quarterback Caleb Williams at between +600 and +650.
Hooker is effectively behind these three at between +1,600 and +1,700, however he’s taking part in in addition to anybody within the nation and has alternatives within the coming weeks to point out whether or not his Heisman candidacy is actual or just an early season mirage.
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Hooker this season has accomplished 71.4% of his passes for 1,170 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions and run for 175 yards and three touchdowns. On Saturday, he had one of the best recreation of his profession, finishing 22 of 28 passes (78.6%), throwing for 2 touchdowns, gaining 112 yards on 13 carries and operating for a landing.
“Man, Hendon performed his butt off tonight,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel mentioned throughout his postgame press convention on Saturday. “He performed at an elite stage – decisive with the soccer, correct with the soccer, intermediate, brief, lengthy, used his legs on the proper time, created massive performs there. Only a robust competitor, man. Offensively, we fed off of him all evening lengthy.”
For Hooker, Saturday was a lot completely different than his early days at Tennessee when this system was in flux. Hooker, a local of Greensboro, N.C., enrolled at Virginia Tech in 2017. He redshirted that first yr and appeared in solely six video games within the 2018 season and didn’t try a go. Over the subsequent two seasons, Hooker began 15 of the 18 video games he appeared in, throwing for two,894 yards, 22 touchdowns and 7 interceptions and operating for 976 yards and 14 touchdowns.
After graduating from Virginia Tech in December 2020, Hooker entered the switch portal. The subsequent month, he introduced by way of Twitter that he would play at Tennessee, which was coming off a 3-7 season. Lower than two weeks later, Tennessee fired coach Jeremy Pruitt amid potential recruiting violations, whereas athletic director Phillip Fulmer retired. Fulmer was Tennessee’s coach for 17 years, together with from 1995 to 2001 when the Volunteers ended the season within the prime 10 in six of seven years, highlighted by profitable the nationwide title within the 1998 season.
By the point Fulmer departed as coach in 2008, following a 5-7 season, the Volunteers have been now not an elite program. When he left as AD, they have been in even worse form.
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Nonetheless, in late January 2021, Tennessee employed two younger extremely touted individuals within the school athletics subject, each from the College of Central Florida: Danny White as athletic director and Heupel as coach.
Hooker started final season as a backup to Joe Milton, a switch from the College of Michigan. However after Milton sustained an harm within the second recreation of the season towards Pittsburgh, Hooker took over and by no means relinquished his position. In 13 video games, Hooker accomplished 68% of his passes for two,945 yards, 31 touchdowns and solely three interceptions. He additionally ran for 616 yards and 5 touchdowns.
The Volunteers’ document, although, wasn’t practically spectacular as Hooker’s statistics. They completed final season 7-6 total and 4-4 within the SEC, they usually entered this season unranked within the polls. Now, they’re within the prime 10, though they’re going through a tough stretch that can decide whether or not the hype is warranted.
After a bye week, Tennessee returns to motion at unranked LSU, at all times a tough highway setting. Through the subsequent 4 weeks, the Volunteers host No. 2 Alabama on Oct. 15 and No. 7 Kentucky on Oct. 29 and play at No. 1 Georgia on Nov. 5.
If Tennessee can win two or extra of these video games, Hooker ought to stay in Heisman competition and have an opportunity to develop into the primary Volunteers participant to win the award. Primarily based on this system’s latest historical past, Tennessee shouldn’t be talked about in the identical class as Alabama and Georgia and the opposite premier SEC packages. However Hooker and Heupel appear to have a very good chemistry, as Heupel himself was a prime school quarterback, inserting second within the 2000 Heisman voting and main Oklahoma to the nationwide title that yr.
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Throughout Heupel’s three seasons as UCF’s head coach, the Golden Knights have been among the many prime 10 in scoring every year. In the meantime, Tennessee was seventh within the nation in scoring (39.7 factors per recreation) final yr in Heupel’s first season and is fifth this yr at 48.5 factors per recreation.
Throughout his press convention after Saturday’s recreation, Hooker mentioned he remembered speaking to Heupel when Hooker was a highschool participant and Heupel was an assistant at Missouri. Hooker by no means visited Missouri, however he turned impressed with Heupel over the subsequent few years.
“His offense is wonderful,” Hooker mentioned. “I bear in mind when he was at UCF, I used to look at their video games on ESPN every time I may. I used to be an enormous fan. As soon as I realized he was coming right here to be our head coach, I used to be very excited.”
The SEC football’s 10-year television contract with ABC and ESPN is worth about $3 billion. So, you might conclude the conference is set for life.
You might conclude that if you have been living in a cave. Not that there’s anything wrong with living in a cave, but it could give you a warped sense of financial matters.
Inflation is on the rise. Expenses are, too.
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College football will soon begin sharing its revenue with college football players. Imagine that.
Revenue sharing won’t mark the end of NIL deals. Players will continue to capitalize on their name, image, and likeness. My guess is they will capitalize more next year and the year after that.
You think $300 million a year in TV revenue for an entire conference assures your member schools of financial security? Don’t be silly.
One thing I have learned from covering college sports for decades: Colleges never have enough money – no matter how much television networks are willing to throw their way.
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Fortunately, the NCAA is aware that colleges – despite the ramped-up television deals – remain at risk for abject poverty. I assume that’s why it will allow corporate-sponsor advertisements on football fields this regular season.
This decision wasn’t impulsive. Both an NCAA panel and a committee signed off on this in a wonderful example of bureaucratic collaboration.
Don’t get the wrong idea. Players won’t have their helmets tattooed with business logos. Nor will the Aflac duck be permitted to waddle along the sideline with a football coach.
Only three corporate advertisements will be allowed – one at the 50-yard line and two other smaller ones in yet-to-be-named spots. And I’m sure such advertisements will be subtle and tasteful, so as not to detract from the natural beauty of a football field.
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Maybe, that’s how it will start out. But that’s not how it will end up.
Who finds one oil well on his property and proclaims: “We’re good now. Let’s go plant some trees.” Instead, they will search feverishly to find more oil-producing wells.
Once colleges realize how much money they can rake in from corporate advertisements, do you think they will shout to the heavens: “That’s all we need”?
If you answered “yes,” go back to your cave.
I envision a field fraught with commercials since there is so much open space available for the taking. As any self-respecting corporate CEO will tell you, open space is lost money.
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I envision future fields with a corporate sponsor every 20 yards. A national car manufacture could sponsor one 10-yard line. A major insurance company could sponsor a 30. Of course, goal-line advertising will cost more.
ADAMS: College football players, not other athletes, should receive their revenue sharing
And why not put the goal posts to work, too?
A corporate banner could be draped over the crossbar. Corporate flags could dangle from the top of the uprights, which will be the focal point of millions of viewers when a game-deciding field-goal attempt flies through the sky.
The sky will remain unspoiled by corporate logos – at least, until some clever CEO figures out how to put that open space to work.
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John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.
Although Ohio State football missed out on one of its top running back targets in Jordon Davison after he committed to Oregon, the Buckeyes are still looking for a third running back in the 2025 class.
Bo Jackson and Isaiah West are currently in the fold, as the pursuit of another continues. Tennessee back, Shekai Mills-Knight, could be an option, as the 6-foot, 1-inch and 217-pounder narrowed down his list to eight schools with a commitment coming soon.
The 247Sports Composite Rankings has him as their No. 442 overall prospect and 33rd back, but his offer list is quite impressive considering the “lower” ranking. There is one part of Mills-Knight recruitment that makes it seem like Ohio State might not be an option.
— Shekai Mills-Knight ⭐️ (@sk_begreat) June 29, 2024
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He has yet to make an official visit, as he has done so with multiple of his other finalists. Until Mills-Knight does that, he should not be seen as a realistic possible future commitment.
Contact/Follow @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on X.
The Tennessee Titans knew their secondary needed an upgrade after they struggled in the 2023 season.
They allowed 67.8 percent of passes to be completed, which was the third-highest mark in the NFL behind the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings. But that’s part of the reason why the Titans made some moves in the offseason to address the secondary.
Tennessee made some bold decisions, trading for Kansas City Chiefs two-time Super Bowl champion L’Jarius Sneed and signing veteran Chidobe Awuzie from the Cincinnati Bengals, who had Brian Callahan on the coaching staff before he was hired by the Titans this offseason.
Tennessee’s improvements in the secondary prompted The 33rd Team writer and analyst Dan Pizzuta to label them as one of the four most improved position groups in the NFL.
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“The Titans made a massive effort to turn that group around. It started with signing Chidobe Awuzie in free agency. Awuzie played through a herniated disc for parts of last season, which led to up-and-down play, but he’s been a plus corner in coverage for much of his career and is expected to be healthy this season,” Pizzuta wrote.
“On the opposite side, the Titans made their biggest move by trading for L’Jarius Sneed. Sneed was one of the league’s best cornerbacks last season with Kansas City and ranked 11th in adjusted yards allowed per coverage snap. Sneed is a physical outside corner who can play aggressive coverage and lock down opposing No. 1 receivers.”
With Awuzie and Sneed teaming up with Roger McCreary in the cornerback room and being part of a defense coordinated by Dennard Wilson, the Titans can project to be better than they were in the 2023 season.
Each of the last three Super Bowls have had either Awuzie or Sneed playing, so having players that have proven to be part of winning cultures and combinations should help the Titans piece together their own standards.
Awuzie, Sneed and the rest of the Titans are getting in their final weeks of vacation before they report to training camp on Tuesday, July 23.
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