Tennessee football: Top 5 Vols individual performances vs. Florida
Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. 2022. Hendon Hooker. 3. player. 839. Quarterback
Tennessee beats Florida 38-33
It wasn’t just the way he played. Hendon Hooker’s mental toughness was incredible. Hooker had over 450 yards of total offense and scored three total touchdowns, leading the Vols to their first win over the Florida Gators in six years.
Heading into the game, Hooker was already one of the most efficient quarterbacks in college football, but things did not start off well for the Vols. They fumbled on their first offensive drive. On the next drive, Hooker missed an easy touchdown throw to tight end Jacob Warren.
Two drives later, Hooker was sacked and fumbled the ball on a fourth down pass. As a result, the Vols trailed 14-10 late in the second quarter. Their defense was awful all game, mainly just the secondary, but they finally forced a punt after that fumble, the only in the game.
However, UT got the ball on their own one-yard line with two and a half minutes to go in the half. That’s when Hooker, who had suffered an upper-body injury the drive before, came alive. He led UT on a 99-yard touchdown drive, finishing it with a touchdown pass to Bru McCoy.
Immediately to open the second half, Hooker led the Vols on another touchdown drive, ending it with a touchdown pass to Jabari Small. He had already run for one touchdown, and now he had UT in control, 24-14.
Florida would keep threatening against Tennessee football’s defense, so Hooker had to keep scoring. After they cut it to 24-21, Hooker had a 44-yard run to set up another touchdown in which he single-handedly avoided a sack.
Simply put, Hooker was elite all game. He finished 22-of-28 for 349 yards and two touchdowns and no picks along with 13 carries for 112 yards and a touchdown. Although Josh Dobbs had two more touchdowns than Hooker, he also had two picks.
Hooker’s one turnover was off a missed block. As a result, he moved ahead of Dobbs on this list, and he actually knocked off Heath Shuler, who had three touchdowns in the Vols’ 31-14 victory over the Gators back in 1992.