Tennessee Football: Hendon Hooker Thriving In Josh Heupel’s Offense

For years, Tennessee Football has been looking for its next great quarterback, and it looks like they’ve found him in Hendon Hooker.

Hendon Hooker is thriving in Josh Heupel’s Tennessee Football offense

Being a Miami Hurricanes fan, I was well aware of Hooker when he was at Virginia Tech. Hooker played for the Hokies for three seasons, and was never able to find his groove in Blacksburg, which always surprised me.

However, since transferring to Tennessee following the 2020 season, Hooker has finally found the perfect situation with head coach Josh Heupel.

In Heupel’s up-tempo offense, Hooker has been able to mesh his dual-threat abilities, and has turned the Volunteers into an offense juggernaut through the first four games.

So far, Tennessee’s offense has looked unstoppable. Per TeamRankings.com, the Volunteers rank 1st in yards per game (559.3), 2nd in points per game (48.5) and 4th in passing yards per game (365.8).

Last year, in Hooker and Heupel’s first year together, Tennessee Football went 7-6, with many ups and downs throughout the process. Though, you could clearly see that Hooker found his offense, throwing for 2,945 yards and 31 touchdowns. Heupel obviously had trust in his quarterback, as Hooker ended 2021 with a career high 302 pass attempts, and completing 68% of his throws.

That’s something that Heupel has done especially well, trusting Hooker as a passer, not over-utilizing him as a running threat. At Virginia Tech, the most passing attempts Hooker had in a season was 162.

At Tennessee, Heupel has found a way to combine Hooker’s talents as a runner, to go along with his supreme talent throwing the ball. In 17 total games for the Volunteers, Hooker has been responsible for 47 touchdowns, compared to 37 touchdowns in 21 games at Virginia Tech.

In their biggest win so far in 2022 against Florida, Hooker’s dual-threat talent was on full display. In the 38-33 victory, Hooker completed 22-of-28 passes, throwing for 349 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also running for 112 yards and 1 touchdown.

Following the win against UF, I posted several stats in a thread on Twitter. (shoot me that follow while you’re at it)

Hooker’s skill-set has also fit in well with how fast Heupel wants his offense to run. In 2020, Virginia Tech ranked 95th when it came to plays per game, running an average 68.2 plays with Hooker at quarterback.

In 2021, Tennessee’s offense averaged 76.2 plays ran per game, and they’re at 77.8 PPG so far in 2022.

The increased tempo has also helped Hooker become a more efficient passer and player in general. During two years as starter for Virginia Tech, Hooker’s QB rating was 165.8 in 2019, and 153.5 in 2020. At Tennessee, Hooker’s rating has increased dramatically, 181.4 in 2021, and so far a 183.7 rating in 2022.

Connor O’Gara from Saturday Down South broke down Hooker’s QB rating, and how it compares to other quarterbacks in the SEC.

His completion percentage was a combined 63.2% at Virginia Tech, compared to 69.8% at Tennessee. Hooker’s combined yards per attempt at Virginia Tech was 9.2 and at Tennessee it’s 10.1.

Hooker now also holds the Tennessee record, going 212 pass attempts without throwing an interception.

It’s obvious that Hooker finally has found his school, coach and offense, as he’s put Tennessee back on the college football map, and has made them a threat to compete with Georgia in the SEC East. If Hooker keeps playing like this, he very well may find himself in New York come December, as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.