Hendon Hooker out for the season with a torn ACL

As initially feared, Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker’s season is over. Hooker suffered a torn ACL late in the blowout loss to South Carolina. Tennessee’s playoff chances ended on Saturday night, and Hooker’s shot at the Heisman Trophy went with it.

Tennessee confirmed the news on Sunday.

Now Hooker has a lengthy rehab process ahead of him — just five months ahead of the NFL Draft. Age (24 year old, currently) was already an issue with NFL evaluators, now he’ll likely miss most if not all of his rookie season.

Words can’t really describe how brutal of an ending this is for Hooker, a guy who transferred in after being ousted at Virginia Tech. He didn’t commit to this staff, and wasn’t even their first pick to start at quarterback. But he put his head down and went to work, eventually leaving no doubt who the best option was under center.

Hooker entered Saturday with the second best odds to take home the Heisman. Now his season is over with, and he won’t even get an invite to make the trip to New York for the ceremony.

“It was probably one of the worst things I’ve seen out there,” guard Jerome Carvin said. “Just to know how hard he works, probably the hardest-working guy I’ve ever seen, I ever played with. It’s so unfortunate to happen to a guy like that. But if I know anything, I know he’ll bounce back from it, for sure. Man, he’s a warrior, so I know he will.”

Hooker’s season ends with 3,135 yards passing, 27 touchdowns against just two interceptions. He added 430 rushing yards, scoring an additional five touchdowns on the ground.

Tennessee will now turn to Joe Milton for the Vanderbilt matchup and the bowl game. It’s a likely preview of next season, where he’s expected to use his COVID season to return as a super senior.

“Joe Milton’s a great player,” tight end Princeton Fant said on Saturday. “He’s a brother as well. Me and Joe, we talk all the time, actually, and we talk about things like this, the times he gets his time to go in and shine. We believe in Joe as an offense, and I feel like he’s really going to step up in that role, whatever happens. We’re ready for it and we’re going to go with it.”

You hate to see this for Hooker, who now won’t be able to go through live action in the senior bowl. He won’t be able to perform at the NFL Combine. He won’t be able to go through individual workouts for teams. His tape and interviews are now all he has.

It wasn’t supposed to end like this, but you’ve now officially seen Hendon Hooker play his last snap for Tennessee. He’s nothing short of a legend in Knoxville, pushing the Volunteers to their first No. 1 ranking in over 20 years.

Thank you, Hendon.

Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images