Dylan Sampson, Tennessee run game have Alabama's full attention

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – When Tennessee defeated Alabama in Knoxville in 2022, the Vols had the SEC’s best passing offense, which finished the season among the top five nationally.

This year, however, Tennessee is much better at running the football, as the Vols lead the SEC in rushing and currently have the country’s seventh-best rushing offense (246.17 ypg).

“They do a really good job,” said Alabama defensive line coach Freddie Roach. “They spread guys out a lot and limit who you can have in the box and run. The offensive line is physical up front. They’re big. There’s three of them that’s been playing for a long time. So they’ve been consistent. 

“I think people look at them and think they just throw the ball all the time. They do a really good job of running it, as well.”

Tennessee’s rushing attack is led by junior running back Dylan Sampson, who leads the league at the midway point of the regular season. Sampson has run for 699 yards and 15 touchdowns on 118 carries – all tops in the SEC. He ranks second nationally in rushing scores behind Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty and is eighth in both rushing yards and carries.

Sampson is responsible for 42.8 percent of the Vols’ 276 rushing attempts this season and has 12 more rushing touchdowns than any other player on Tennessee’s roster entering the matchup with Alabama. The 5-foot-11, 201-pound tailback has the Tide’s full attention.

“The guy is a really good football player,” Roach said. “Obviously, he’s scored a lot of touchdowns. He’s got good balance and body control. He’s got a burst that can finish long runs. And he’s hard to bring to the ground. We have to do our job as far as fitting the gaps, and when we have an opportunity to wrap him up, wrap him up and bring him to the ground.”

Alabama outside linebackers coach Christian Robinson noted that not only is it hard to spot Sampson on the field at times, but it’s proven difficult to tackle him once he is detected.

“They’ve got a big O-line and he’s a little bit shorter, and that’s, I think, an advantage for them is he can hide behind and be patient,” Robinson said. “He’s also really hard to get down. You can’t sling him down. He can spin out of tackles. He’s got 15 touchdowns this season. The next closest guy has got four. 

“He’s obviously a mainstay in their offense, and so we’ve gotta go shut that down in order to be successful. He’s a great player, and they find many ways to get him the ball and I expect them to try to feed him the ball on Saturday.”

The Vols lead the conference in rushing with 1,477 yards in six games. On the flip side, UT is 11th in the SEC with 1,430 passing yards – or 238.8 yards per game. Sampson has more than twice as many rushing scores as quarterback Nico Iamaleava has passing touchdowns (7).

But Tennessee’s offensive scheme under Josh Heupel also opens things up for the run game.

“I think a lot of times, there’s two plays going on – the perimeter and the core,” Robinson said. “We always talk about starting inside out and making them make those long throws, and he’s a great quarterback that can make all those. 

“But if we can make them go east-west and obviously play everything in front of us as best as we can and make the game slow down, I think that that’s something that – they wanna go fast pace. 

“They’ve got a lot of great players. And so it starts inside-out and up front, and that’s what’s gonna cause us to be successful on Saturday.”

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