WATCH: Tennessee lineman draws penalty after epic acting job
The Tennessee Volunteers jumped all over the Ball State Cardinals early in Thursday night’s matchup and it wasn’t even remotely close as they coasted in a 59-10 blowout. That doesn’t mean the game wasn’t without its fair share of highly entertaining moments, such as Gerald Mincey signing autographs and Darnell Wright looking to bring home an Academy Award. Tennessee offensive lineman Darnell Wright got into a tussle with Ball State linebacker Sidney Houston, Jr. in the third quarter. Wright slung Houston to the ground and that’s where the fun started. Houston got up from the ground and shoved Wright’s facemask. The Tennessee offensive lineman then decided to put on his best acting performance to try and draw a penalty. Wright stumbled five yards away and fell down to the ground.
Check it out below as PFF did a great job of highlighting the action.
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Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker did not disappoint in his season debut on Thursday night either, completing 72 percent of his passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns through the air, while also scoring two touchdowns on the ground.
A few weeks ago, On3’s J.D. PicKell laid out the path for Hooker to win the Heisman Trophy this season.
Tennessee dominated Thursday night from the start
On the first play of the game, Tennessee linebacker Aaron Beasley forced an interception thrown by Ball State quarterback John Paddock with pressure in the backfield. Junior defensive back Tamarion McDonald snatched the pick. On the very next play, Vols’ quarterback Hendon Hooker connected with receiver Jalin Hyatt, who ran to the inside for an easy 23-yard touchdown to put Tennessee up 7-0 just 23 seconds into the game.
The Vols continued to pile on the points and not surprisingly, Hooker was benched midway through the third quarter. The Tennessee offensive attack is expected to be one of the most high-octane in all of college football and needless to say, they didn’t disappoint tonight.
Last year at Tennessee, Hendon Hooker more than doubled his career numbers with 2,945 passing yards to go with an incredibly efficient 31-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio (best in the country) – and is expected to produce similar numbers this year.
After starting last year second on the depth chart behind Joe Milton, Hooker took over in Week 2 when Milton went down with an injury. The former Virginia Tech quarterback never looked back, remaining the starter for the Vols for the duration of the 2021 campaign.
Coming out of high school, Hooker was ranked as a four-star prospect and the No. 25 quarterback in America, according to the On3 Consensus Rankings for the 2017 cycle.
On3’s Barkley Truax also contributed to this article.