Hendon Hooker reveals the toughest defense he played against in college
There weren't many defenses that were able to slow down Hendon Hooker and the Tennessee Vols over the last two seasons. Since the start of the 2021 season — which was Josh Heupel's first year at Tennessee — the Vols have scored less than 20 points just three times. Tennessee has been held under 30 […]
There weren't many defenses that were able to slow down Hendon Hooker and the Tennessee Vols over the last two seasons.
Since the start of the 2021 season — which was Josh Heupel's first year at Tennessee — the Vols have scored less than 20 points just three times.
Tennessee has been held under 30 points just five times since Heupel's arrival.
Only one program has held Tennessee under 30 points twice — the Georgia Bulldogs.
The Vols failed to score more than 17 points against the Bulldogs in their last two meetings. So it shouldn't be a surprise that Hooker named the 2021 Georiga defense as the toughest defense that he played against in college.
"I used to say Pittsburgh's defense in 2019," said Hooker recently to The Spun. "That unit was stacked. It had Jaylen Twyman, Damar Hamlin, Patrick Jones II, etc. They had some guys. But, that Georgia defense in 2021 was nuts too. Nakobe Dean, Quay Walker, Jordan Davis, etc. That defense was nuts. There were many [times] when I thought I was going to break off for a big run and then someone came out of nowhere. That was one of the best defenses I've ever faced."
Hooker threw just five interceptions during his time at Tennessee. Two of those interceptions came against Georiga (one in 2021 and one in 2022).
In 2021, Hooker completed 24 of 37 attempts for 244 yards and one touchdown against the Bulldogs. He also rushed for just seven yards on 17 attempts.
This past season, Hooker completed 23 of 33 attempts for 195 yards and zero touchdowns. He rushed for 17 yards on 18 attempts.
There's no doubt that Georgia gave Hooker some problems, but the Bulldogs have done that to a lot of quarterbacks over the last two years.
Hooker will see plenty of those same Georgia players in the NFL in the coming years. Hopefully for his sake, he learned a thing or two from playing against them in college that he can carry with him to the NFL.
