Directing Pride of the Southland Band was 'a dream' for Hendon Hooker
Hendon Hooker ran right, juked a Missouri defender and high-stepped through the checkerboard end zone Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium.
By the end of the day, the redshirt senior accounted for 405 yards and four touchdowns as No. 5 Tennessee routed visiting Missouri 66-24 on Senior Day in Knoxville.
But nothing that happened between the lines — not his emphatic 14-yard touchdown run to put Tennessee up 28-14 in the second quarter or the 68-yard touchdown pass he threw to Jalin Hyatt to make it a 35-24 lead in the third — could compare to what happened after the game.
Hooker climbed a ladder in the southeast end zone of Neyland Stadium and directed The Pride of the Southland Band, just like Peyton Manning did 25 years ago on his Senior Day.
“That’s always kind of been a dream for me,” Hooker said during his postgame press conference. “Just coming here and seeing Peyton stand up there, at the band, I always thought that was the coolest thing ever, (to) strike up the band. That’s what we want to do every week. Put the ball in the end zone, strike up the band.”
Manning celebrated after a closer-than-expected 17-10 win over Vanderbilt to clinch an SEC East title for the Vols, before going on to beat Auburn in the SEC Championship Game.
Hooker had much more time to celebrate.
He bounced back from Tennessee’s 27-13 loss at No. 1 Georgia last week by completing 25 of 35 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns. He ran for 50 yards on eight carries and his fourth touchdown.
Saturday was about Saturday, though. Not what happened last week.
“Honestly, I didn’t think we lost anything,” Hooker said when asked about the bounce back from the Georgia loss. “We had a couple mistakes, mental mistakes the we cleaned up this week. Came out and executed how we knew how to execute. We’re going to continue to do that.”
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“It’s a game,” he added. “You win some, you lose some. We had a lot of self-inflicted growing pains. Just coming out here and being able to refocus and play confident, as we know how, is a great feeling.”
Josh Heupel: Hendon Hooker a ‘really powerful story’ for Tennessee
Hooker has now thrown for 2,888 yards and 24 touchdowns, to just two interceptions, through 10 games. During his breakout redshirt junior season he threw for 2,945 yards, 31 touchdowns and only three interceptions, taking over for injured starter Joe Milton III against Pitt in the second game of the season.
Hooker started his career at Virginia Tech, spending two seasons with the Hokies before entering the NCAA Transfer Portal. He committed to Tennessee in December 2021, starting a career he could only dream of with the Vols.
“Hendon, man, really powerful story,” second-year Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. “Transferred in, didn’t go right at first stop. He’s a young man that doesn’t get named the starter, continues to pour into his teammates. What a great lesson for everybody in our locker room.
“He becomes the guy, continues to grow, competes every day, shows up and works, becomes a great leader. He’ll be one of the greats here however it ends out. Pretty cool story. The perseverance it takes to go through that as a player, it’s a hard thing to do and it doesn’t go unnoticed by me.”
