In his nearly two full seasons as Tennessee’s starting quarterback, Hendon Hooker helped reverse the struggling ways of the Volunteers and helped turn the program into one that was worthy of an Orange Bowl invitation.
His favorite moment during his time with the Vols is a surprising choice.
“It would probably be when we were playing South Carolina in 2021,” Hooker said early last week during a brief appearance at Southeastern Conference Media Days in Nashville. “We got to debut the black uniforms, and we scored like three consecutive drives in a matter of like three minutes. It was nuts, and that was so exciting.
“I felt like that was the cusp of us moving forward. We had just beaten Missouri by like 100 points, and then we were playing South Carolina and doing them dirty in the first half.”
So why wasn’t last season’s 52-49 topping of Alabama his pick? After all, that did end Tennessee’s 15-year losing streak against Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide.