The story of the 2022 Tennessee Vols: All the moments that made Josh Heupel's second season truly memorable
The 2022 season will go down as one of the most memorable seasons in Tennessee Vols history. Just two years after going 3-7 and hitting rock bottom (and firing Jeremy Pruitt), the Vols went 11-2 and beat Florida, LSU, Alabama, and Clemson in the same season. 2022 wasn't perfect. The Vols could've had a spot […]
The 2022 season will go down as one of the most memorable seasons in Tennessee Vols history.
Just two years after going 3-7 and hitting rock bottom (and firing Jeremy Pruitt), the Vols went 11-2 and beat Florida, LSU, Alabama, and Clemson in the same season.
2022 wasn't perfect. The Vols could've had a spot in the playoff if not for a shocking late-season loss to South Carolina. But even with that loss, this was still a memorable season that fans will never ever forget.
I did my best to hit some of the top storylines and moments from the season. There's undoubtedly a lot I missed. It seems like every day a memory that I forgot about from this season pops into my mind. But here's a look at most of the moments that made this season truly special.
Game 1 — Ball State @ Tennessee
The first two plays of the Ball State game let everyone know that Tennessee was about to have a special season.
On the first play of the game, defensive back Tamarion McDonald picked off a pass from Ball State quarterback John Paddock. The very next play saw QB Hendon Hooker throw a touchdown pass to WR Jalin Hyatt, the first of 15 receiving touchdowns for Hyatt on the season.
This game was over by halftime and despite the Vols scoring 59 points, it felt like they left some points on the field. That's an odd thing to say when a team has only three drives that don't result in points (two punts and a fumble), but that's what Tennessee fans have quickly become accustomed to seeing from UT's offense thanks to Heupel.
Game 2 — No. 24 Tennessee @ No. 17 Pittsburgh
Everyone expected Tennessee to have its way with Ball State. The game on the road against Pittsburgh, however, was the Vols' first true test of the season. Tennessee lost to Pitt in 2021 in Knoxville, so this was viewed as a must-win game to show that the Vols were making progress under Heupel.
Pittsburgh game week started with Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi being extremely complimentary of the Vols — he didn't give Tennessee any bulletin board material.
The game itself was unlike most of the games the Vols played in 2022. Tennessee fell behind 10-0 early and it looked like they were on the verge of going down 17-0 before Trevon Flowers came down with an interception in the end zone that kept the Panthers from scoring.
That interception led to an 11-play drive that ended with a Jabari Small touchdown run.
Tennessee eventually took a 21-17 lead into halftime, but the game didn't get any easier for the Vols. Pitt hung around and eventually forced overtime.
The Vols scored first in the overtime after Cedric Tillman posted up a defensive back in the end zone for the score. Tennessee's defense then came up big — a Trevon Flowers sack put the Panthers in a 4th-and-goal situation from the 20. An incomplete pass would end the game and give the Vols their second win over a ranked opponent in the Josh Heupel era. The win also ensured that the Florida game a couple of weeks later would have plenty of hype.
Game 3 — Akron @ No. 15 Tennessee
The Vols' early season game against Akron didn't have much buildup (as you would expect). Fans were already looking forward to a big showdown with Florida. Akron was simply a warmup.
Because of that, there weren't many storylines going into this game, though we did get one funny moment from Akron head coach Joe Moorhead before the game.
A reporter asked Moorhead about Tennessee's loss to Pittsburgh the previous week. Moorhead quickly informed the reporter that the Vols beat the Panthers.
As for the game, Tennessee easily handled business, winning 63-6.
The story coming out of the game, however, wasn't about the win. It was that Tennessee lost star wide receiver Cedric Tillman to an ankle injury. Tillman ended up missing the next four games after suffering the injury.
Tennessee was lucky that Tillman was the only major injury during this game. Akron defenders played some dirty football that night against the Volunteers.
Game 4 — No. 20 Florida @ No. 11 Tennessee
After getting off to a 3-0 start, the Vols jumped all the way to No. 11 ahead of their week four showdown against Florida.
The Gators entered the game ranked No. 20 after beating No. 7 Utah to open the season and then falling to No. 20 Kentucky at home.
With both teams ranked, ESPN's College GameDay decided to come to town.
Adding to the hype was a little bit of trash talk from both sides.
“I don’t think I view it as a challenge,” said Florida defensive back Tre'Vez Johnson in response to a question about Tennessee’s high-powered offense. “They gotta come play us like we gotta come play them. I love our secondary. We have a bunch of vets in the secondary. Even the younger guys have experience. I love us."
"We gonna see on Saturday," added Johnson when asked about the Vols possibly having the best wide receivers in the nation.
Vols safety Trevon Flowers sent a shot right back at Florida on the same day.
Saturday came and the Vols handled business against the Gators, despite not having Tillman on the field.
One of the reasons is because of Ramel Keyton stepped up and made some big plays, including what might have been the catch of the year (that catch came on a 99-yard drive before halftime that gave the Vols the lead for good)
Tennessee eventually took a 17-point lead, but Florida made things interesting with two late scores. They had a chance to win the game on a walk-off hail mary (shades of the 2017 Tennessee/Florida game), but Anthony Richardson's final pass attempt was intercepted by Vols defensive back Kamal Hadden.
After the win, Heupel sent a message to the rest of the college football world.
"Rocky Top's back, let's go."
By the way, one of the most random moments of the season happened during this game when comedian Theo Von, a Louisiana native and former LSU student, administered the Gatorade bath on Heupel.
Game 5 — No. 8 Tennessee @ No. 25 LSU
After the Florida game, it felt like fans and media had no clue what to expect in the LSU game.
Were the Vols for real? Did they deserve to be ranked No. 8? Or were Florida and Pittsburgh not that good?
A road game at LSU — even though it was an 11 AM kickoff — would tell us a lot about if whether not Tennessee was a legitimately good team.
The week started with some comments from Brian Kelly about the Vols’ offense not being able to do a lot formation and motion-wise because of the up-tempo approach.
Kelly would regret those words.
Tennessee boat raced LSU, winning 40-13 behind a big game from both the offense and the defense.
The highlight of the day was easily Jalin Hyatt’s 45-yard touchdown that came on the first play after LSU turned the ball over on downs.
It was after that 27-point thrashing of the Tigers that everyone — Tennessee fans and the rest of the college football world — started believing that there might be something special about this Vols team.��
Games 6 through 9 ——>>>>>>
Game 6 — No. 3 Alabama @ No. 6 Tennessee
Going into the Alabama game, the feeling among fans seemed to be that regardless of the outcome of the Bama game, the Vols had already had a great season. Beating Alabama would be the icing on the cake, but a loss wouldn’t be a negative against Heupel.
The lead-up going into the game was insane as you can imagine. College GameDay was back in town. And Nick Saban spent most of the week talking about how Alabama was going to “see how they could do” against Tennessee’s potent offense.
On the night before the game kicked off, the Vols received some extra motivation via a hype video from Alabama. Former Vols linebacker Henry To’o To’o, who transferred to Bama after the 2020 season, was featured on the video talking about returning to Neyland to make a “few more plays” before saying “it’s not personal, it’s just business”.
Tennessee’s players didn’t forget those words.
As for the game itself, the Vols jumped out to a big lead, thanks to several huge touchdowns from Hyatt. A muffed punt from the Crimson Tide — which caused Nick Saban to lose his mind — helped as well.
(Side note: one of the best parts of the game was when Tennessee went old school, lined up under center on the goal line, and scored on a fullback run. Saban said later in the week that Tennessee lining up under center confused his players and they didn't know how to defend it.)
Alabama, unsurprisingly, got back into the game and even took the lead at one point. But Tennessee was able to tie the game late in the fourth quarter (via another Hyatt TD — he had five touchdowns on the day).
A missed field goal late left the Vols with just 15 seconds left on the clock. Instead of taking a knee, Tennessee, which had two timeouts, let Hooker go to work.
Hooker hit Keyton for an 18-yard pick-up before connecting with McCoy for a 27-yard reception, setting up Chase McGrath’s 40-yard field goal.
McGrath’s kick appeared to be tipped, but it knuckled its way through the uprights for the win.
“It wasn’t pretty, but it was beautiful,” said CBS play-by-play announcer Brad Nessler while describing the field goal.
And that’s when things got crazy.
The celebration was on as fans stormed the field, leading to possibly the best scene of the entire college football season.
Perhaps the best moment of the night was when Dixieland Delight, a song about Tennessee that Alabama plays at their home games, started playing over the PA at Neyland.
It was the perfect ending to a perfect game.
After beating Alabama, the national media started considering the possibility that Tennessee could be a legitimate threat to reach the College Football Playoff.
And by the way, those To'o To'o comments? Vols tight end Princeton Fant admitted after the game that they were used for motivation for by Tennessee.
Game 7 — UT-Martin @ No. 3 Tennessee
The UT-Martin game is a great example of a perfectly timed game. Tennessee had a bye between the emotional Florida game and the LSU game that I think helped with their mentality. Having a “snoozer” game like this after the Alabama game was equally as beneficial.
The only real storyline with this game was the fact that UT-Martin head coach Jason Simpson’s son, Ty, signed with Alabama over Tennessee during the 2022 recruiting cycle. Simpson gave off the vibes that the Vols had a legitimate chance to land him, but his mind was essentially made up, making Tennessee's recruitment of him essentially a waste of time
We learned this season that Heupel has some pettiness in him and this game might have been the first example. Tennessee poured it on UT-Martin — even breaking out a trick play in the second half that featured Fant throwing a long touchdown to Hyatt.
Tennessee continued throwing the ball as the game neared its completion. Ultimately, it was just another show of dominance from the Vols’ offense.
Game 8 — No. 19 Kentucky @ No. 3 Tennessee
This game was the peak of the season for the Vols. And it was a fun one.
The week leading up to the game featured a lot of comments from Kentucky coaches and players that seemed to throw shade at Tennessee's style of play.
UK quarterback Will Levis talked a lot about "real football". He suggested that Tennessee's offense didn't play real football and Kentucky, via their run-first offensive attack, did.
Tennessee's players and coaches heard those comments and they let the Wildcats know about it after the game. But back to that in a minute.
The Vols got off a quick start in this game as Hooker quickly hit a wide-open Hyatt to give Tennessee a 7-0 lead.
Tennessee also went on a long scoring drive that included 13 running plays. After the Vols scored, ESPN's announcers said Tennessee gave Kentucky a taste of their own medicine.
It was essentially Heupel's way of showing Kentucky that Tennessee can run the ball and win that way, too.
The Vols poured it on from there, eventually winning 44-6.
When Hooker scored to put the Vols up 37-6, ESPN's Chris Fowler, who was calling the game, asked if folks in Athens were paying attention. It was the perfect setup for what would be billed as the game of the century a week later.
As for those comments from Kentucky, well several folks at UT noticed and reminded everyone of the comments after the win.
Game 9 — No. 1 Tennessee @ No. 3 Georgia
There isn't really much to say about this game except Georgia dominated. I think the fact that Tennessee was ranked No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff rankings gave the Bulldogs some added motivation.
One great thing, however, that came from this game was the leadership that Hooker showed near the end of the game. With the Vols about to lose, Hooker rallied his teammates to let them know the season wasn't lost and they still had a lot to play for.
It was a beautiful moment from a player that meant a lot to Tennessee's program.
Games 10 through 13 ——>>>>>>
Game 10 — Missouri @ No. 5 Tennessee
Tennessee had to prove to the country that they weren't going to crash and burn after losing to Georgia.
There wasn't a lot of trash talk from Mizzou before the game, though we did get a sound clip from Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz saying that he had a "whole list" of things that he learned from Missouri's loss to the Vols in 2021.
We're still waiting to see that list. Tennessee got off to a slow start against Mizzou, but they eventually pulled away, winning 66-24.
The big storyline after the game revolved around Tennessee "running up the score" because the Vols scored with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter instead of taking a knee.
Heupel told reporters after the win that he was just letting his kids play ball.
Game 11 — Tennessee @ No. 5 South Carolina
I think we can just skip this one.
But seriously, this was by far the worst week of the season. No one gave South Carolina a chance. Even Gamecocks fans resigned themselves to a blowout loss.
And how could you blame them? South Carolina was coming off an embarrassing 38-6 loss to a not-very-good Florida team.
This game was truly a complete disaster. It was the worst game of the season for the UT defense as they couldn't stop Spencer Rattler and the Gamecocks all night.
To make the loss worse, Hooker tore his ACL in the second half, effectively ending his Tennessee career.
The absence of linebacker Jeremy Banks (more on that in a minute) didn't help. But it was just a poor performance from the entire defense (with the exception of linebacker Aaron Beasley, who played really well).
I had a weird feeling about this game — Tennessee, after all, has only won twice in Columbia since the end of the Phillip Fulmer era. But I still thought the Vols would win. In fact, I picked them to win by double digits the Monday before the game on our recording of "The Big Orange Podcast". But I never dreamed the Vols would lose 63-38.
After the game, all attention was on Banks and rumors of a squabble in the locker room.
The rumors picked up some steam after Heupel commented after the loss that everyone at Tennessee should hurt, including the players who didn't make the trip.
Game 12 — No. 10 Tennessee @ Vanderbilt
The week before the Vandy game was…weird.
The Vols' playoff hopes were essentially erased after the loss to South Carolina. And ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit went on ESPN to spread the rumors of locker room dysfunction at Tennessee.
Herbstreit picked the Vols to lose to Vanderbilt because of those rumored locker room issues (which we don't believe existed based on conversations we've had with folks close to the program). At one point, Herbstreit said "things are not good in Knoxville".
Tennessee, however, quickly showed the nation that they shouldn't be defined by the South Carolina game. The Vols cruised to a 56-0 win against a Vanderbilt team that needed a win to reach bowl eligibility.
Joe Milton, who took over for Hooker, didn't have to do a lot on a rainy night in Nashville. But he showed he's more than capable of running the Vols' offense.
By the way, one of the best moments of this game was Dee Williams' celebration after returning a punt for a touchdown.
After the game, Heupel made it clear that he didn't appreciate the questions about his team's culture from the national media.
Game 13 — No. 6 Tennessee vs No. 7 Clemson: Orange Bowl
Tennessee finished outside of the top four of the playoff rankings due to the loss against South Carolina. And for reasons I still don't understand, Tennessee finished ranked behind Alabama, which meant the Crimson Tide got the invite to the Sugar Bowl.
That turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The Vols got to play in the Orange Bowl which was a primetime stand-alone game against Clemson — the team most UT fans wanted to play thanks to Dabo Swinney's "flipping burgers" comments after Tennessee's loss to South Carolina.
When the game was finally played on December 30, the Vols showed the entire college football world that they weren't going anywhere. Tennessee beat Clemson 31-14 with Milton under center.
The Vols connected on a couple of big plays, including the most casual 46-yard touchdown reception I've ever seen.
What a magical season. There were so many other memorable moments that weren't included in this article, too. It's a season that Tennessee fans have been waiting on for nearly two decades. And it was better than anyone could've ever imagined.
And the best thing is that the Vols are just getting started. This is only the beginning of something special for Tennessee.
Featured image via Kate Luffman/Tennessee Athletics
