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2022 Tennessee

11–⁠2 (6–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Josh Heupel, finished No. 6 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 2022, game by game: won vs. Ball State 59–10; won at No. 17 Pittsburgh 34–27; won vs. Akron 63–6; won vs. No. 20 Florida 38–33; won at No. 25 LSU 40–13; won vs. No. 3 Alabama 52–49; won vs. UT Martin 65–24; won vs. No. 19 Kentucky 44–6; lost at No. 1 Georgia 13–27; won vs. Missouri 66–24; lost at South Carolina 38–63; won at Vanderbilt 56–0; won vs. No. 10 Clemson 31–14+57−25Won 59–10 vs. Ball State+49Ball StateWon 34–27 at No. 17 Pittsburgh+7No. 17 PittsburghWon 63–6 vs. Akron+57AkronWon 38–33 vs. No. 20 Florida+5No. 20 FloridaWon 40–13 at No. 25 LSU+27No. 25 LSUWon 52–49 vs. No. 3 Alabama+3No. 3 AlabamaWon 65–24 vs. UT Martin+41UT MartinWon 44–6 vs. No. 19 Kentucky+38No. 19 KentuckyLost 13–27 at No. 1 Georgia-14No. 1 GeorgiaWon 66–24 vs. Missouri+42MissouriLost 38–63 at South Carolina-25South CarolinaWon 56–0 at Vanderbilt+56VanderbiltWon 31–14 vs. No. 10 Clemson+17No. 10 Clemson
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsBall StateW 59–⁠1062%
Sep 10at17PittsburghW 34–⁠2731%
Sep 17vsAkronW 63–⁠685%
Sep 24vs20FloridaW 38–⁠3367%
Oct 8at25LSUW 40–⁠1345%
Oct 15vs3AlabamaW 52–⁠4936%
Oct 22vsUT MartinW 65–⁠2486%
Oct 29vs19KentuckyW 44–⁠664%
Nov 5at1GeorgiaL 13–⁠2727%
Nov 12vsMissouriW 66–⁠2480%
Nov 19atSouth CarolinaL 38–⁠6366%
Nov 26atVanderbiltW 56–⁠072%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvs10ClemsonOrange BowlW 31–⁠1439%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Clemson 31–⁠14 in the Orange Bowl; No. 6 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 28th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 24
  2. Wk 3: 15
  3. Wk 4: 11
  4. Wk 5: 8
  5. Wk 6: 8
  6. Wk 7: 6
  7. Wk 8: 3
  8. Wk 9: 3
  9. Wk 10: 2
  10. Wk 11: 5
  11. Wk 12: 5
  12. Wk 13: 9
  13. Wk 14: 7
  14. Wk 15: 6
  15. Final: 6

Heisman voteHendon Hooker, fifth

Led the nationDee Williams: punt return average (18.7)

Biletnikoff AwardJalin Hyatt, WR

Consensus All-AmericanJalin Hyatt, WR

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 6 peak No. 2
Points
599–⁠296
Coach
Josh Heupel
Elo
1709 +184 this season
SP+ rating
25.2 No. 5 of 131; offense No. 1, defense No. 40, special teams No. 53
SRS
19.8 No. 5 of 131 in FBS
Returning
76% of last season’s EPA, No. 26 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 18 roster talent No. 19 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Alex Golesh
Defensive coordinator
Tim Banks
Offense
Veer and shoot
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense5th of 131
  • Defense43rd of 131
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted4th of 131
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted35th of 131
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.3150%1.295th of 131
Defense0.0742%1.2143rd of 131
Opponent-adjusted0.31 off
0.05 def		52% off
40% def		—4th off
35th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.8own 3110% allowed
Defense3.2own 2816% caused

CORE rating 20.9, 6th of 131 (offense 16.0, defense -5.0).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsHendon Hooker QB3,135 yds
Passing touchdownsHendon Hooker QB27 TD
Rushing yardsJaylen Wright RB875 yds
Rushing touchdownsJabari Small RB13 TD
Receiving yardsJalin Hyatt WR1,267 yds
Receiving touchdownsJalin Hyatt WR15 TD
TacklesAaron Beasley LB66 tkl
SacksByron Young DL7 sacks
InterceptionsKamal Hadden DB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2022 class

Addison Nichols OL★★★★No. 143
Tyre West DL★★★★No. 165
Tayven Jackson QB★★★★No. 198
James Pearce Jr. DE★★★★No. 202
Justin Williams-Thomas RB★★★★No. 270
Kaleb Webb WR★★★★No. 310
Joshua Josephs DE★★★★No. 330

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2022 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.922
Running backs23.50.897
Receivers43.30.888
Offensive line43.30.886
Defensive line63.50.885
Linebackers23.00.870
Defensive backs23.00.860
Athletes and specialists22.50.802
Whole class233.30.878

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2023

The 2023 draft
Rd 1Darnell Wright OTChicago Bears
Rd 3Hendon Hooker QBDetroit Lions
Rd 3Jalin Hyatt WRNew York Giants
Rd 3Cedric Tillman WRCleveland Browns
Rd 3Byron Young DELos Angeles Rams

Roster 125

The 2022 roster

125 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2022 line; 79 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 8

The 2022 portal
Bru McCoy WR★★★★from USC
Andre Turrentine CB★★★from Ohio State
Gerald Mincey OT★★★from Florida
Wesley Walker S★★★from Georgia Tech
Lyn-J Dixon RB★★★from West Virginia
Charlie Browder TE★★★from UCF
Jackson Hannah LB★★★from Nebraska
Navy Shuler QB★★★from App State

Transfers out 22

Tiyon Evans RB★★★★to Louisville
Chris Akporoghene OL★★★to Tulsa
Deangelo Gibbs WR★★★no new school on file
Harrison Bailey QB★★★to UNLV
Morven Joseph LB★★★to Florida Atlantic
Brian Maurer QB★★★to Stephen F. Austin
James Robinson OL★★★to South Alabama
Aaron Willis LB★★★★to Houston
Carlin Fils-aime RB★★★★no new school on file
Julian Nixon TE★★★★no new school on file
Kaemen Marley WR★★★★no new school on file
Tyler Baron DE★★★★returned to Tennessee

And 10 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-SEC

4 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 2022 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2022 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia8–⁠015–⁠01
Tennessee6–⁠211–⁠26
Alabama6–⁠211–⁠25
LSU6–⁠210–⁠416
Mississippi State4–⁠49–⁠420
Ole Miss4–⁠48–⁠5
South Carolina4–⁠48–⁠523
Arkansas3–⁠57–⁠6
Kentucky3–⁠57–⁠6
Florida3–⁠56–⁠7
Missouri3–⁠56–⁠7
Vanderbilt2–⁠65–⁠7
Texas A&M2–⁠65–⁠7
Auburn2–⁠65–⁠7

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.