Hendon Hooker shares where Tennessee's confidence is after loss

After losing on the road to the defending national champs in Georgia, the Tennessee Volunteers are no longer in control of their College Football Playoff destiny. And although that might get some individuals down in the dumps, that is not the case for this Volunteers team and their leader, quarterback Hendon Hooker. On Monday, Hooker explained how he balances humility and confidence after the tough loss.

“The same way, just bouncing back. It’s a learning process,” said Hooker. “That’s something that I communicated to the offense before the game was even over. Like, we’ll learn from this, and we’ll bounce back. But, moving forward, just wanted to continue to encourage guys, as I do on a daily basis, to get in here and get extra work in as a normal week.

“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We didn’t play well, and we didn’t have the outcome that we wanted. That’s part of the game; sometimes, it won’t go your way. But you can prevent that moving forward. So just continuing to encourage my teammates to take it one day at a time when repping the time. And give 100 percent for their brothers left and right of them.”

Despite the loss, Tennessee still has a strong chance of being one of the top-four teams in the country by the end of the season, earning them a trip to the college football playoffs. The Volunteers must win out in their last three games of the season against Missouri, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt to stay in the hunt. And it helps that they own victories over two of the top three teams in the SEC West, likely to make it to the SEC championship game, LSU and Alabama. The Volunteers remain in a good spot, all things considered.

Hooker calls Missouri defense ‘incredibly physical’

Tennessee‘s stay at No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings was short-lived, but the Volunteers still have plenty to play for. A CFP appearance isn’t out of question by any means, but first Tennessee will have to get by a Missouri defense that has caused plenty of teams issues this season.

Including that top-ranked Georgia team that just handed Tennessee its first loss.

“They’re incredibly physical on the line of scrimmage,” quarterback Hendon Hooker said. “Linebackers read really well. Their safety is incredible, good size and can move really well. DBs on the outside play really aggressive, they’re scrappy and play hard.”