Hendon Hooker, Jalin Hyatt named finalists for Maxwell, Biletnikoff awards
Tennessee football’s quarterback-wide receiver duo of Hendon Hooker and Jalin Hyatt were named as finalists for national awards on Tuesday.
Redshirt senior Hendon Hooker is one of three finalists for the Maxwell Award, given annually to college football best quarterback. Junior Jalin Hyatt is one of three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to college football’s best wide receiver.
Hooker, who accounted for 3,565 total yards and 33 touchdowns in 11 games this season, is Tennessee’s first Maxwell finalist since Peyton Manning won the award in 1997.
Hyatt is Tennessee’s first receiver to be named as a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, alongside Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. and Iowa State’s Xavier Hutchinson.
Harrison caught 72 passes for 1,157 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Buckeyes this season, while Hutchinson had 107 catches for 1,171 yards and six touchdowns.
Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud and USC’s Caleb Williams are the other Maxwell finalists.
Hendon Hooker accounted for 3,135 passing yards, 27 touchdowns before tearing ACL
Hooker tore his ACL in the fourth quarter at South Carolina on November 20. He completed 229 of 329 passes (69.6 percent) for 3,135 yards and 27 touchdowns, with just two interceptions, in 11 games before suffering the season-ending injury. He ran for 430 yards and five more touchdowns.
Williams passed for 3,712 yards, 34 touchdowns and three interceptions for the Trojans. Stroud passed for 3,340 yards, 37 touchdowns and six interceptions for the Buckeyes.
Hyatt finished the regular season leading the country in touchdowns, with his 15 setting a new Tennessee program record. He finished with 1,267 receiving yards, only 31 yards short of matching the Tennessee record held by Robert Meachem, who had 1,298 yards in 2006.
Hyatt’s 1,267 yards came on just 67 receptions, giving him an average of 18.9 yards per catch.
As the biggest deep threat the country, Hyatt finished No. 1 in the country in plays of 30 or more yards (15), 40 or more yards (11), 50 or more yards (7) and 60 or more yards (5).
Over four games, Jalin Hyatt had 582 yards, 11 touchdowns
His absurd numbers this season include a four-game stretch, from LSU on October 8 through Kentucky on October 29, Hyatt caught 22 passes for 582 yards and 11 touchdowns.
He had four catches for 63 yards and two touchdowns at LSU, six catches for 207 yards and a school-record five touchdowns against Alabama on October 15, seven catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns against UT Martin and five catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns.
Hyatt finished the Missouri game with seven catches for 146 yards and a touchdown.
He had five catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns and started the season with a touchdown on Tennessee’s first offensive snap against Ball State on September 1.
Hyatt addressed his potential NFL future after the win over Missouri earlier this month, saying he’ll make that decision when the time comes.
“I’m just going to worry about the season now,” he said. “Worry about what we have to do and how we have to finish out for our goal. But you now, with that situation, it’s something I would have to talk to my family about, coaches about.”
