Tennessee Football: Associated Press names Jalin Hyatt, Hendon Hooker All-Americans
Another day, another honor for Jalin Hyatt. Tennessee’s junior wide receiver on Monday was named a First Team All-American by the Associated Press. Hyatt, who on Thursday became Tennessee’s first Biletnikoff Award winner, had already been named an All American by Walter Camp and the Football Writers Association of America.
Tennessee redshirt senior quarterback Hendon Hooker, named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year by both the AP and league coaches, was named Third Team All-American by the AP on Monday.
Hyatt won the Belitnikoff Award over Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. and Iowa State’s Xavier Hutchinson.
Jalin Hyatt named All-American by three different outlets
During his breakout junior season for the Vols, Hyatt finished the regular season leading the country in touchdowns, with his 15 setting a new Tennessee program record. He had1,267 receiving yards, only 31 yards short of matching the Tennessee record held by Robert Meachem, who had 1,298 yards in 2006.
Hooker passed for 2,945 yards, 31 touchdowns and three interceptions during a breakout redshirt junior season with the Vols last year, adding 616 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. This season he passed for 3,135 yards and 27 touchdowns, with just two interceptions, and ran for 430 yards and five more rushing touchdowns.
Hooker’s redshirt senior season was cut short after he tore his ACL in the fourth quarter of Tennessee’s loss at South Carolina last month. He led the Vols to an 8-0 start this season as the team climbed all the way to No. 1 in the College Football Playoff Top 25 on November 1.
Up Next: No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Clemson, Orange Bowl, Dec. 30, 8 p.m. ET
Hyatt’s 1,267 yards came on just 67 receptions, giving him an average of 18.9 yards per catch. As the biggest deep threat the country, Hyatt finished No. 1 in the country in plays of 30 or more yards (15), 40 or more yards (11), 50 or more yards (7) and 60 or more yards (5).
During a four-game stretch, from LSU on October 8 through Kentucky on October 29, Hyatt caught 22 passes for 582 yards and 11 touchdowns.
He had four catches for 63 yards and two touchdowns at LSU, six catches for 207 yards and a school-record five touchdowns against Alabama on October 15, seven catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns against UT Martin and five catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns. He finished the Missouri game with seven catches for 146 yards and a touchdown.
He had five catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns and started the season with a touchdown on Tennessee’s first offensive snap against Ball State on September 1.
