Alabama Football: Injured Vol QB expected to start against the Tide

Alabama Football has been planning for two Tennessee Vol quarterbacks. The Tennessee starter, Hendon Hooker was injured late in last week’s loss to Ole Miss. The lower leg injury was initially thought to be a problem with a knee. It is more recently being described as a hamstring problem.

Though Hooker had participated in some practice work this week, Tennessee insiders were skeptical he would be able to play. Friday morning Matt Zentiz reported Hooker is expected to start against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday night.

Though Hooker was not the starter for the Vols when the season began, he has been far more effective than Joe Milton. The Tennessee offense can be compared to the offenses Gus Malzahn used effectively at Auburn. Like Gus, Tennessee Head Coach, Josh Heupel builds everything off of tempo – the faster the better, to not give defenses time to sub or get organized. Also like Gus, for the Heupel, the running game drives the offense. Spreading the field horizontally is designed to open up interior gaps for running lanes.

The Vols’ heavy rushing offense has been effective. Despite injuries to running backs Tiyon Evans and Jabari Small the Vols have averaged almost 250 rushing yards per game. Evans had to miss last week’s Ole Miss game but is expected to play against the Crimson Tide. A major component of the Vols’ rushing offense has been Hendon Hooker, who has run for 390 yards.

Hooker is a better runner than he is a passer, but in Heupel’s offense, he has thrown the ball effectively. His completion percentage is higher than it was at Virginia Tech and it has produced almost 1300 passing yards for the Vols.

Alabama Football will be prepared for either Vol QB

The Friday news changes nothing for the Crimson Tide. It is ready for either one of the Tennessee QBs.

Depending on how healthy Hooker is on Saturday, the Vols’ offense can be productive against the Alabama Football defense. Most of that production will likely be held in check by a more compressed Tide defending the red zone. The defensive key for Alabama will be limiting explosive plays. The Vols have produced many of them, particularly with running back Tiyon Evans who is averaging 7.2 yards every time he touches the ball.

How close Hooker is to 100 percent is not known. If he is not close to being fully recovered, his effectiveness as a runner will likely be impaired.

Note: Player stats in this post are from sports-reference.com and ESPN.

Alabama football fans may see the Tide defense surrender lots of yards between the 20s. It is unlikely that success will produce many Tennessee touchdowns. The Tide should still win big.