KNOXVILLE — Much to the University of Tennessee at Martin’s chagrin, Hendon Hooker and Jalin Hyatt decided not to take this weekend off.
The same dazzling combination that enabled Tennessee to take down Alabama after 15 years of frustration in that rivalry was at it again Saturday afternoon on homecoming, with Hooker throwing for three touchdown passes and Hyatt hauling in two receiving scores as the Volunteers demolished the Ohio Valley Conference’s Skyhawks 65-24 before another Neyland Stadium sellout crowd of 101,915.
It was the furthest scenario from a hangover for the No. 3 Vols, whose 52 first-half points were the most for the program since snagging a 53-0 halftime lead during a 73-0 rout of Carson-Newman in 1929.
“I said late in the week that I thought our guys prepared the right way and had the urgency of understanding you’ve got to be a consistent competitor,” Tennessee second-year coach Josh Heupel said. “Emotionally, there might be a difference from week to week just in the energy inside the stadium, but your competitive nature can’t change.
“I thought our ones did a really nice job in all three phases of the game, but I didn’t think our young guys performed the way I thought they were capable of. We talked a lot about everybody inside of our program taking a step forward. It’s not that they didn’t prepare the right way. It’s just different when you’re out there.”