Hendon Hooker was injured during the third quarter of Saturday night’s game against South Carolina.

Hooker walked off the field gingerly after a non-contact injury to the knee. Anytime any player goes down holding his knee in a non-contact injury, coaches, teammates and fans hold their breath.

At the time of the injury, South Carolina led Tennessee 49-31. Hooker also fumbled on the play and South Carolina recovered. The Gamecocks scored again to take a 56-31 lead.

At the time of his injury, Hooker was 25-of-42 for 247 yards and 3 touchdowns against South Carolina. All season long, Hooker has been Tennessee’s legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate and unquestioned leader.

As you can see below, Hooker hit the ground and looked in immense pain.

ESPN’s Holly Rowe reported on the broadcast that Hooker was putting some weight on his leg while coming off the field, but he went directly into the Tennessee injury tent to get checked out.

Hopefully, Hooker’s injury doesn’t turn out as bad as it looked on the field and he can return to the game.

We’ll update Hooker’s injury when new information is released.