How do we not have a thread for this yet? (Edit: [uck fay], we do. Let's call this one a hype thread) Vegas has him second behind Stroud. A lot of "rankings" have him #1. What's it going to take for him to win it? Is it just going to come down to who has the better record between us and OSU? Is there a world in which we lose to UGA, OSU wins out, and Hooker still wins it? Will SoS (I assume ours is/will be better) be part of the conversation? Should the fact that we were unranked going into the season and they were #2 play a part? Will it? I'm almost as excited about our shot at our first Heisman winner as I am about our shot at an SEC/National title. Imagine what Hooker winning a Heisman this season would do for our recruiting.
I think he has to go on the road and beat Georgia. But if he does that, I genuinely think he wins the Heisman. I don’t know how you could give it to anyone else.
Florida, LSU, Alabama, Georgia - that’s an elite set of scalps (along with Pitt, SC, UK - all ranked) for a team that wasn’t even projected in the Top 25 preseason. Story just seems too incredible - perhaps unprecedented in modern football - if he leads UT to an undefeated season out of nowhere.
I see it the same way. If you beat the two best teams to start the year, who played for the title in 2021, and have run the table while putting up big numbers... beating Penn state and Michigan just doesn't stack up.
and then you add the Cinderella factor for a guy whose career was left for dead, no hope of a pro future, an afterthought in the transfer portal…it’s just captivating a story. maybe I’m biased, but I don’t think so.
If they both win out, I think Hooker would win. He has already brought it close in terms of odds, and let’s be honest, the only reason Stroud still has the edge there is more people think OSU is likely to stay unbeaten than Tennessee. Hooker has already passed him in terms of panel votes done by groups like ESPN, The Athletic, etc, and that’s even with Stroud’s superior touchdown stats. I’d guess that’s more reflective of voters than bettors who are probably banking on Tennessee losing to Georgia or blowing it elsewhere. However, I do think Tennessee may have to win out. If Tennessee does and wins the SEC, I think Hooker gets it no matter what Stroud does.
I could ultimately be off here, but it seems like the national media environment is actually ripe this year specifically for a Tennessee Heisman winner. Heisman voters love a good story, and Tennessee is a national media darling feel-good story of the year so far. If he leads us to ATL undefeated, Hendon is going to have to spend a weekend next Spring in Texas filming Heisman House commercials.
