KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Maybe there was a hangover from the Georgia loss still lingering for the first 36 minutes and change Saturday at Neyland Stadium. But if there was, Tennessee shook it off in a hurry, scoring the game's final 38 points to get back on track with a 66-24 win over Missouri.
Tennessee allowed nearly 300 yards to Missouri in the first half as the Tigers put up 17 points capped by a field goal on the final play of the second quarter. Then, Brady Cook hit Dominic Lovett for a 38-yard touchdown to cap an eight-play, 85-yard drive midway through the third quarter to pull Mizzou within 28-24.
Tennessee responded two plays later as Hendon Hooker hit a wide-open Jalin Hyatt, who was hidden in the formation by lining up behind the left guard, for a 68-yard catch and run TD. That score started a 38-0 Vols run to finish the game, helping them improve to 9-1 this season.
A week after being held to a Josh Heupel-era low 13 points between the hedges, Tennessee's potent offense responded in a big way, racking up a season-high 66 points and school-record 724 total yards.
After failing to throw a touchdown for the first time as Tennessee's quarterback at Georgia, Hendon Hooker completed 25 of 35 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns against the Tigers. He also ran for 50, including a 14-yard touchdown during the second quarter of an afternoon that began with his final walk through the T to take part in Senior Day festivities and ended with him standing atop a ladder to direct the band through a rendition of Rocky Top.
"We made some mistakes, some self-inflicted mistakes [last week] that we were able to clean up this week," Hooker said. "We just came out and executed. To reset and come out and play like we know we can is a good feeling."
Heupel called Hooker a remarkable story and a player that will go down as one of the best in Tennessee history.
Fellow senior Princeton Fant caught a pair of scores: a 19-yard over-the-shoulder catch in the back of the end zone in the second quarter and a two-yard toss to the flat in the third quarter.
Hyatt, who is a junior but could be tempted by the NFL Draft, finished with seven receptions for 146 yards in what may be his final game at Neyland Stadium as well. Bru McCoy added nine catches for 111 yards as the Vols made a statement that last week's struggles were an aberration.
Even backup running back Dylan Sampson ran for 98 yards and a score as the Vols showed balance with 264 yards on the ground to go along with 460 through the air.
It was a performance that should impress the College Football Playoff committee, which dropped the Vols to fifth in their ranking this week following the Georgia loss. The Vols likely will still need some help to make the playoffs, but performances like Saturday certainly won't hurt.
"The statement [we made] was that we're a good football team, playing good football," Heupel said. "What the scoreboard says and if we're judged down the road is somewhat out of our control. Our best football is in front of us."
That's a statement that should be scary for South Carolina and Vanderbilt looking to the next two weeks because the Vols were back to themselves Saturday. And when they're rolling, they're hard to stop.
