Hendon Hooker downplayed the size of the stage he led his Tennessee team on against rival Florida Saturday. He played like it, too.

The Vols senior quarterback, already a hero in Knoxville since taking the reins early last season, further solidified himself in that role against the No. 20 Gators in a 38-33 win at Neyland Stadium, No. 11 Tennessee's first in the series in six seasons and only the second in the last 18 meetings.

Hooker made plays with his arm-completing 22 passes for 349 yards and two touchdowns-and his legs with another 127 yards and a score for a career high in total yardage (476), extending drives with runs that ate up massive yardage.

"I really didn't feel any spotlight or any stage. It was just us out there playing football like we do everyday," Hooker said. "Another day in the office and the outcome was how we wanted it to be."

The drive that will undoubtedly be talked about in the coming weeks in any conversation between the Big Orange faithful about the night Tennessee snapped its losing skid to Florida and re-emerged as an SEC heavyweight, came with less than three minutes left in the first half.

With Florida leading 14-10, the Gators downed a punt at the Tennessee 1-yard line with 99 yards and not a lot of time standing between the Vols and a possible go-ahead score.

Hooker took charge. He completed a 10-yard pass to tight end Princeton Fant on third-and-long. On the next play, his pass landed into the outstretched arms of Ramel Keyton for a gain of 43 and a first down at the Florida 35-yard line.

Three plays later on second-and-7, Hooker found space and raced 16 yards, landing Tennessee on the doorstep. He capped the drive by rolling out and hitting Bru McCoy in the back of the end zone for the score. The Vols never gave up the lead from that point.

"Obviously (the drive) was huge in the way that the game played out," Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said. "We score on that one, we score at the beginning of the third quarter. We're in some long yard situations during the course of that drive. Made a huge play with Ramel down the sideline...Hendon played his butt off tonight.

"He played at an elite level. Decisive with the football, accurate with the football, used his legs at the right time...Just a tough competitor, man."

When Florida answered Tennessee's scoring drive to open the third quarter with a touchdown drive of its own to make it 24-21, Hooker somehow eluded a would-be Gators sack, then took advantage of a block from Fant that sprung a 44-yard run into the red zone and later helped put the Vols back up double digits.

Hooker repeated plays like that all afternoon and as if to add to a memorable performance, he did it after being banged up after taking some hits from the Florida defense in the first half.

"There's ups and downs and aches and pains in the game of football," Hooker said. "Persevering through that is something that I take pride in, just being a warrior and competing for my brothers."

"Hendon (was) fierce. Played like a warrior tonight," Heupel said. "We had a lot of guys that did that, but Hendon was relentless in the way that he competed...An unbelievable, elite level."

Going back to a road win at Kentucky nearly a year ago, his touchdown pass to Cedric Tillman to lift Tennessee past Pittsburgh in overtime and now beating Florida, it's clear no stage has been too big for Hooker. With games against LSU, Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia still ahead, similar outings could land him on another stage in New York come December.

Heupel, who finished as a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy as a quarterback at Oklahoma in 2000, has some insight on what it would it take. He thinks his quarterback can get there.

"You continue to win, you continue to play the way that he is, you're going to get a lot of attention...," Heupel said. "As he continues down this journey here over the next month, he's got to continue playing the way that he has...He's special."

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