ATLANTA — The extent of the damage of 18 major NCAA allegations leveled at Tennessee football during the disastrous three-year reign of Jeremy Pruitt will have to be measured in the coming years after the penalties are rendered and the dust settles.
In the here and now, the uptempo offensive attack constructed by second-year Coach Josh Heupel and engineered by returning senior quarterback Hendon Hooker appears to be in fine shape. The Volunteers just need to make a major leap forward on defense and carry on with their high-octane attack to push forward in the evolving SEC East.
The press members in attendance at SEC Media Days seem to like what they’ve seen from Heupel’s approach, picking the Volunteers to finish third in the division behind reigning national champion Georgia and Kentucky, who finished 1-2 in the East last season. Tennessee, trying to build on Heupel’s 7-6 debut, has been fitted as a dark horse candidate in the East, much like Arkansas in the West.
“We heard the noise a little bit, and we want to go out there and play hard,” Tennessee receiver Cedric Tillman said at media days. “This year, we plan on winning more games and competing each week.”
Last season, Tennessee broke school records with 511 points, an average of 39.3 per game, 6,174 total yards (474.9 per game) and 67 touchdowns.
The expectations of Tennessee fans are for the “Power T” to begin impacting the top of the division as the Vols did for most of a 17-year span under Phillip Fulmer from 1992-2008, including the 1998 BCS championship.
“I don’t want to be anywhere where there isn’t hunger to be better,” Heupel said. “The expectations are never going to be higher outside of the building than they are inside of the building.
“Getting our kids to understand, not soak in the outside noise. … They’re going to hear it, they’re going to see it, but it doesn’t change the way you strain, focus, go about your daily habits. … The outside noise will have nothing to do with who we are this fall, either.”
Heupel pointed out the Volunteers opened camp last season with 69 scholarship players, well below the maximum of 85 allowed by the NCAA, due to a self-imposed a 12-scholarship reduction, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel. Still, Tennessee proved competitive.
“We were the thinnest football team in America, hands down, not even close,” Heupel said. “You look across America, many were playing with 90 to 95 because of covid seniors.”
The News-Sentinel is also estimating the Volunteers will have 79 scholarship players report for camp Sunday. The Volunteers are reporting ahead of most other SEC teams because they open on Thursday, Sept. 1 against Ball State.
Hooker was the preseason choice for second-team All-SEC quarterback behind Alabama’s Bryce Young after producing strong figures following his transfer from Virginia Tech.
The 6-4, 218-pounder passed for 2,945 yards with 31 touchdowns and 3 interceptions and completed 68% of his passes, all while rushing for 616 yards and 5 more scores.
“Hendon is a pure winner,” Heupel said. “He is a great leader inside of our program. … Everybody inside of our building feels his energy and focus every single day.”
The Volunteers operate at a sizzling offensive pace, ranking 20th in the country with 76.2 plays per game, including 105 snaps in their 48-45 overtime loss to Purdue in the Music City Bowl.
Hooker elected to return to Knoxville for his bonus-year season rather than declare for the NFL Draft, so the Greensboro, N.C., native will be in his sixth year.
“A young man that had an opportunity to declare for the draft, came back to our program, I believe because of the culture we have, the improvements he knew he could make in coming back in helping his career,” Heupel said.
Hooker said having a better grasp of the offense should help him be more effective.
“Just being patient and not trying to rush my reads and not rush my decisions,” Hooker said of his areas of improvement. “Just being relaxed and in total control of the offense.
“Trying to lead my teammates is my end goal, and motivate them on and off the field. Just having a positive attitude and bring joy every day on and off the field.”
Hooker will be helped by the return of Tillman, his top wideout, and top tailback Jabari Small operating behind a line that returns starters in center Cooper Mays, tackle Darnell Wright and guards Jerome Carvin and Javontez Spraggins.
Tillman caught 64 passes for 1,081 yards to rank fifth in the conference and 29th in the FBS last season.
“Cedric Tillman, who a year ago nobody had really heard of,” Heupel said. “Now he’s regarded as one of the best at his position in the entire country.”
Tillman averaged 16.9 yards per catch and scored 12 touchdowns.
Small emerged as a strong lead back with 796 rushing yards, 9 touchdowns and 5.6 yards per carry to complement Hooker’s dual-threat ability as the team leader with 166 rushing attempts.
Defensively, Tennessee posted a school-record 102 tackles for loss to rank seventh in the country. However, getting opponents behind the chains consistently didn’t always work out. Opposing teams converted third downs at an alarming rate of 42.1%, which ranked 103rd in the nation.
The defense was 99th nationally in giving up 421.7 yards per game and part of that was because it was on the field a lot. The flip side to the Vols’ vaunted hurry-up offensive attack was sketchy game control. They ranked last among 130 FBS teams with 24:29 of possession time per game, meaning their opponents had the ball almost 50% more often, an average of 35:31.
Heupel touted his system’s ability to play a “four-minute” offense, but his teams at Central Florida were more successful at it than the Vols were last season.
“When we’ve been playing from ahead, that four-minute offense is something that we have used different places that I’ve been,” he said. “We’ve been extremely successful in it. A lot of that stems from the fact that we’re able to rush the football.
“Guys get caught up in quarterback numbers and wide receivers numbers. At the end of the day, it all starts for us in the ability to run the football, control the line of scrimmage.”
Largely thanks to Hooker’s prowess, the Volunteers ranked 11th nationally and second in the SEC behind Arkansas with 217.8 rushing yards per game.
To compete in the East, Tennessee must shore up other statistical areas as well after ranking 100th or worse in eight categories.
Among them was red zone defense, where opponents scored 92% of the time to slot Tennessee at 120th nationally. The Volunteers were also 122nd and last in the SEC with 273.2 passing yards allowed per game.
They were also heavily penalized, ranking 105th with 788 penalty yards, and recovered only three opponent fumbles on the season to rank 118th.
Tennessee has a road date at Pittsburgh, which downed the Vols 41-34 last season in Knoxville, during its three-game run of nonconference opponents to open the season.
Then the tough part: Tennessee’s first three conference games come against Florida, LSU and Alabama, with a road date at Georgia lurking on Nov. 5.
Year 2 under Heupel comes with hope, but the Volunteers face a difficult schedule in their efforts to challenge the current powers in the East.
Tennessee 2022 Schedule
All times Central
DATE OPPONENT TIME/TV
Sept. 1 Ball State 6 p.m. (SECN)
Sept. 10 at Pittsburgh 2:30 p.m. (ABC)
Sept. 17 Akron 6 p.m.
Sept. 24 Florida* TBA
Oct. 8 at LSU* TBA
Oct. 15 Alabama* TBA
Oct. 22 Tennessee-Martin TBA
Oct. 29 Kentucky* TBA
Nov. 5 at Georgia* TBA
Nov. 12 Missouri* TBA
Nov. 19 at South Carolina* TBA
Nov. 26 at Vanderbilt* TBA
*SEC game
LAST SEASON 7–6, 4-4 (third SEC East)
COACH Josh Heupel (7-6 in second season at Tennessee, 35-14 in fifth season overall)
RETURNING STARTERS Offense 8, Defense 6
KEY PLAYERS QB Hendon Hooker, LB Jeremy Banks, WR Cedric Tillman, RB Jabari Small, DE Byron Young
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR Alex Golesh (second season)
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR Tim Banks (second season)
SEC EAST TITLE SCENARIO The Volunteers must be a much better pass stop team while improving their offensive numbers at least marginally with Hooker as the returning quarterback and staying healthy due to lower scholarship numbers.