Tennessee Vols: How a big performance in the Music City Bowl can put Hendon Hooker in rare company
Tennessee Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker could finish the 2021 season in rare company with a big performance in the Music City Bowl against the Purdue Boilermakers. Hooker currently has 2,567 passing yards and 561 rushing yards on the season. If the former Virginia Tech quarterback passes for 433 yards against Purdue, he'll finish the season […]
Tennessee Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker could finish the 2021 season in rare company with a big performance in the Music City Bowl against the Purdue Boilermakers.
Hooker currently has 2,567 passing yards and 561 rushing yards on the season. If the former Virginia Tech quarterback passes for 433 yards against Purdue, he'll finish the season with 3,000 passing yards.
Currently, the only FBS quarterback this season with more than 3,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards is Ole Miss Rebels quarterback Matt Corral (via ESPN).
Passing for 433 yards won't be easy for Hooker — the most yards he's passed for in a game this season was 316 yards against Kentucky.
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel has a reputation for "airing it out" on offense, but that's a bit of a misnomer. The Vols love to throw the ball down the field under Heupel, but they're actually fairly balanced on offense. In fact, Tennessee had more rushing attempts in 2021 than passing attempts (332 pass attempts vs 511 rushing attempts).
Of course, had Hooker been the starter for the first two games of the season (instead of Joe Milton), he likely would've easily eclipsed the 3,000-yard passing mark this season.
So even if Hooker doesn't surpass 3,000 passing yards this season, just know he's still right there with Corral among the most productive quarterbacks in the nation.
And the good news is that Tennessee gets him back for one more season in 2022.
Featured image via Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports/Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
