WATCH: Tennessee strikes first after grabbing first-play interception
The Tennessee Volunteers didn’t waste any time on Thursday night in jumping on top of the Ball State Cardinals in Knoxville, Tennessee. On the first play of the game, Tennessee linebacker Aaron Beasley forced an interception thrown by Ball State quarterback John Paddock with pressure in the backfield. Junior defensive back Tamarion McDonald snatched the pick. On the very next play, Vols’ quarterback Hendon Hooker connected with receiver Jalin Hyatt, who ran to the inside for an easy 23-yard touchdown to put Tennessee up 7-0 just 23 seconds into the game.
Check it out here.
Tennessee currently leads Thursday night’s game 17-0 with 4:02 remaining in the first quarter. Hooker also tacked another touchdown run in the first quarter. The game is being televised on the SEC Network. Before the game, the Vols were 32.5-point favorites against Ball State, and it looks like things are going just as everybody predicted.
The Tennessee offensive attack is expected to be one of the most high-octane in all of college football and needless to say, Hooker and the Volunteers didn’t disappoint on their first drive. In one year at Tennessee, the transfer from Virginia Tech more than doubled his career numbers with 2,945 passing yards to go with an incredibly efficient 31-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio (best in the country) – and is expected to produce similar numbers in 2022.
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After starting last year second on the depth chart behind Joe Milton, Hooker took over in Week 2 when Milton went down with an injury. The former Virginia Tech quarterback never looked back, remaining the starter for the Vols for the duration of the 2021 campaign.
Coming out of high school, Hooker was ranked as a four-star prospect and the No. 25 quarterback in America, according to the On3 Consensus Rankings for the 2017 cycle.
On3’s Barkley Truax also contributed to this article.