Tennessee’s first offensive snap of the 2022 season was a 23-yard touchdown pass from Hendon Hooker to Jalin Hyatt—an appetizer for the big-play buffet to come. It would only get more lavish and sumptuous from there. It has become a movable feast, a binge-worthy bacchanal, delivered with a chef’s kiss by coach Josh Heupel.
The transformation of the Volunteers into an offensive powerhouse and national championship contender has been comfort food for a downtrodden fan base and a poison pill for the first eight opponents on their schedule. After 15 years of starvation in the Southeastern Conference wilderness, Tennessee now has an appetite for destruction.
Heupel is the new vertical-game savant of college football, with a five-year trend line dating back to his time at Central Florida to back that up. His current team is his finest work: leading the nation in scoring at 49.4 points per game, in total yards per game (553), in pass efficiency (198.52), in yards per pass attempt (11.3). And, unofficially, in thrills per possession. Tennessee is a smorgasbord of sensational plays.
