Every team facing the Tennessee Volunteers this season has been wondering the same thing: How do you stop quarterback Hendon Hooker? The fifth-year senior came into Saturday’s game against the Georgia Bulldogs with 156 completions in 219 attempts (71.2%) for 2,338 yards (10.7 YPA), 21 touchdowns, and one interception. And while Georgia’s defense was looking like a reasonable facsimile of 2021’s record-setting squad, the extent to which this Kirby Smart defense put it to Hooker and his team in a 27-13 win, was decisive to say the least.
In this game, Hooker completed 23 of 33 passes for just 195 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception. CBS analyst Gary Danielson opined during the broadcast that the Bulldogs were playing a ton of man coverage, and that’s what was throwing Hooker off. As Hooker came into this game completing 73 of 110 passes for 1,156 yards, 11 touchdowns, and no interceptions against man coverage (per Sports Info Solutions), that dog really doesn’t hunt.
What was the difference in this particular game? Pressure. Georgia was able to get after Hooker ceaselessly, and that muted Tennessee’s offense from the start. Hooker was sacked six times after just 14 total takedowns in his first eight games of the season, including wins over Alabama and LSU.
Before this game, Hooker had been pressured on just 21.5% of his dropbacks 261 dropbacks, but it had been a problem before. Under pressure through last week, per Pro Football Focus, Hooker had completed 25 of 26 passes for 171 yards, one touchdown, and his lone interception. Hooker’s completion rate had dropped from 73.3 to 52.0 under pressure, his yards per attempt from 11.1 to 6.8, and his passer rating from 143.7 to 70.6.
Hooker had led the No. 1 team in the nation before Georgia’s wake-up call. Not only will the Vols be off the top of the mountain, but Hooker will face questions about his ability to run an offense when pressured.
Georgia planted the seed, and the NFL will certainly want to follow up.
