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Dylan Sampson has had a brilliant season for Tennessee, helping the Volunteers be firmly in the College Football Playoff discussion as we hit the final stretch of the season.
On Saturday night though, the junior running back from Baton Rouge took it to another level, and when the dust settled on Tennessee’s 28-18 victory over Kentucky, Sampson’s name was in the Volunteers football record book forever.
Yes, Sampson rushed for 142 yards on 27 carries, which was mighty impressive. But the yards weren’t the headliner in Sampson’s performance at Neyland Stadium. Instead, it was all about the touchdowns. Sampson rushed for 2 touchdowns, on a 7-yard burst midway through the 3rd quarter and on a 6-yard run late in the 4th quarter to put the game away for Tennessee.
Those 2 rushing TDs not only put the 7th-ranked Vols over the top against a pesky Wildcats team, they also put Sampson over the top, as it gave him 19 rushing touchdowns this season to set a Tennessee single-season record.
Rushing into the record books.
No player in Tennessee Football history has rushed for more touchdowns in a single season than Dylan Sampson! pic.twitter.com/7BWE4mNM85
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) November 3, 2024
The crazy part is that it’s only early November and the 7-1 Volunteers have only played two-thirds of their schedule. That means Sampson still has 4 more games to add to his already ridiculous total of rushing TDs.
Next Saturday night in Knoxville, Sampson will take aim at the Mississippi State defense. Then the following week, Tennessee visits Georgia, so Sampson will get a chance to showcase his skills on the biggest stage with the Volunteers’ College Football Playoff chances hanging in the balance.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
