Hendon Hooker readies for another road challenge
Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker knows what’s at stake the remainder of the regular season for the Volunteers. Win a pair of road games at South Carolina and Vanderbilt, Tennessee still has an excellent opportunity of sneaking in the College Football Playoffs.
The quarterback discussed balancing that potential – while preparing for the Gamecocks this week – with the media Monday. Hooker also looked back at the win over Missouri and broke down what went well for the offense during the 66-24 win over Eli Drinkwitz’s squad.
Hendon Hooker & Cooper Mays reel in SEC weekly honors
Following an offensive outburst that resulted in a new program-record of 724 yards, Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker and center Cooper Mays brought home weekly honors from the Southeastern Conference.
The quarterback was tabbed the SEC Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season and the fourth time in his career while Mays became the fourth difference Tennessee offensive lineman to be awarded the Offsnive Lineman of the Week by the conference. The Vols averaged 9.7 yards per play on 75 snaps against Missouri.
Hooker finished the ballgame throwing for 355 yards on 25-of-35 passes, a clip at 71 percent. The athlete also gained another 50 yards on the ground with a rushing score – bringing his total to four on the day. The ground score was Hooker’s fifth of the season and 29th total touchdown on the campaign. On the season, the Heisman hopeful has passed for 2,888 yards with a 90.2 QBR, which is second-best in the country.
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Mays now joins a group of fellow Tennessee offensive linemen of Darnell Wright, JaVontez Spraggins and Jerome Carvin who have taken home the award this season. As a center, Mays sets the tempo of the offense. Tennessee leads the nation in total offense (523.7) and scoring offense (47.4).
Tennessee at Vanderbilt kickoff time announced
The Volunteers will conclude the regular-season next Saturday, November 25, at Vanderbilt for a 7:30 pm ET start time. The game will be televised on The SEC Network. It will be the first 7:30 kick of the season for Tennessee, but the Vols will have played at 7 pm on three other occasions this year – this includes Saturday’s 7pm kick at South Carolina.
Tennessee has won three-straight in the series, including a 42-17 victory in Nashville back in December of 2020. Prior to that meeting, Vanderbilt had won the previous two contests at home. Still, Tennessee leads three all-time series against its instate rival 78-33-5.
