KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee head football coach Jeremy Pruitt announced the addition of graduate transfer quarterback Hendon Hooker on Friday.
Hooker, a native of Greensboro, N.C., spent the last four seasons at Virginia Tech, playing in 25 games with 15 starts. He completed 197-of-312 passes for 2,894 yards with 22 touchdowns through the air, while rushing for 1,033 yards on 247 carries and 15 touchdowns on the ground.
“We look forward to Hendon joining the Tennessee football family this semester,” Pruitt said. “Hendon is a very talented and dynamic quarterback with multiple years of Power Five experience. He will be a great addition to our quarterback room and make a positive impact with two years of eligibility remaining.”
The 6-foot-4 signal caller played in eight games with seven starts during the 2020 season, finishing 98-of-150 for 1,339 yards and nine touchdowns, while adding 620 yards and nine scores on the ground.
Hooker delivered a standout performance against Louisville, completing a perfect 10-of-10 passes for 183 yards, while rushing for 68 yards and three touchdowns in the victory. He racked up a season-high 373 yards of total offense and four touchdowns against Liberty.
Hooker took the reins of the starting quarterback role in 2019 after redshirting as a true freshman in 2017 and seeing action in six games as a redshirt freshman in 2018. The 2019 season saw Hooker lead Virginia Tech in total offense (1,911 yards), passing yards (1,555) and total touchdowns (13 passing, five rushing).
In his six victories as the Hokies’ starter as a redshirt sophomore, he completed 68-of 108-passes for 1,126 yards with 10 TDs and no interceptions (181.1 rating). His six consecutive wins in his first six starts for Tech tied for the third-longest streak by a Hokies’ starting signal-caller at the beginning of his career dating back to 1999.
Hooker set a program record with 124 consecutive pass attempts without an interception to begin his career. He fired 13 touchdowns to only two interceptions in 2019, good for a 6.50 touchdown-to-interception ratio, a mark that led all ACC players with 150 or more pass attempts.
Only five Power Five quarterbacks with 300 or more pass attempts registered a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 6.50 or better than Hooker in 2019 – Ohio State’s Justin Fields (13.67), Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa (11.00), LSU’s Joe Burrow (10.0), Oregon State’s Jake Luton (9.33) and Arizona State’s Jayden Daniels (8.50).
Hooker earned his undergraduate degree in public relations from Virginia Tech in December.
-UT Athletics
