Vols too much for Tigers to handle
Hooker, No. 8 Tennessee top No. 25 LSU to move to 5-0
BATON ROUGE, La. — As dynamic quarterback Hendon Hooker and his Tennessee teammates left the field in a mostly empty Tiger Stadium, nearly all the fans who remained were wearing orange and belting out the lyrics to “Rocky Top.”
Hooker passed for two touchdowns, Jabari Small ran for 127 yards and two scores, and No. 8 Tennessee punished No. 25 LSU for its mistakes and risk-taking in a resounding 40-13 victory on Saturday.
A morning kickoff lured fans to Death Valley earlier than usual — and many were gone by the end of the third quarter, when Tennessee led 37-7. The Volunteers (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) matched their best start to a season since 2016 with balance on offense, sound defense that corralled dual-threat LSU QB Jayden Daniels, and opportunistic special teams play.
“We have found a way to be the best team on the field the last five weeks,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. “Our players have worked hard and more importantly expect to play very well. They expect to win.”
The dominant Tennessee triumph in Tiger Stadium will only add to the hype surrounding the Volunteers’ next game — a home date with SEC powerhouse and historical rival in No. 1 Alabama.
“Everybody understands the opponent that we have coming in,” Heupel said. “It’s important that the staff and the players enjoy this win on the ride home, but turn to the next one tomorrow.”
Hooker passed for 239 yards against LSU (4-2, 2-1), with scoring passes of 45 and 14 yards to Jalin Hyatt. The fleet-footed QB also accounted for 56 of Tennessee’s 264 yards on the ground. Bru McCoy caught seven passes for 140 yards, drawing howls of “Bruuuuuuu!” from Tennessee fans.
Tennessee sacked Daniels five times with Byron Young accounting for half of that total.
“They were able to dominate and control the line of scrimmage,” Heupel said of Tennessee’s defensive front. “There wasn’t anywhere for (Daniels) to escape.”
Daniels finished 32 of 45 for 300 yards and a TD to go with 38 yards rushing. But LSU rushed for just 55 yards.
LSU’s combination of early special teams failures and costly fourth-down risks helped Tennessee build a quick double-digit lead.
Jack Bech had the opening kickoff bounce off his chest and straight to Tennessee’s Will Brooks at the Tigers’ 27-yard line.
“Bech is the best guy we have” to return kickoffs,” LSU coach Brian Kelly insisted, noting that Tennessee’s kick into the wind fell relatively short. “He’s got to haul up there and catch that football.”
Five plays later, Small ran for a 1-yard score.
“We were extremely pumped,” Hooker said. “It got us off to the kind of start we needed.”