Quarterback Hendon Hooker Leads Tennessee To Highest Ranking Since 2006, Enters Heisman Trophy Race

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”