WATCH: Tennessee offensive lineman Gerald Mincey autographs fan's shoe after touchdown score
The Tennessee Volunteers jumped on top of the Ball State Cardinals early and haven’t looked back in Thursday night’s matchup. They are currently manhandling Ball State 59-7 late in the fourth quarter. Following Jaylen Wright’s touchdown score to put the Vols up 45-0 with 11:52 remaining in the third quarter, Tennessee left tackle Gerald Mincey decided to have some fun with the fans and sign a fan’s shoe. The funny part is, he forgot to take the top off the pen while signing the shoe.
Check it out below.
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It was a pretty funny moment for Mincey and an interesting moment for the young fans, too.
Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker did not disappoint in his season debut tonight, completing 72 percent of his passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns, 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 and he said, it’s not as far from reality as many people might think.
Tennessee has 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.