What Josh Heupel said about DeSean Bishop's injury status, Tennessee's run game vs. Kentucky
Josh Heupel didn’t have an answer for the injury suffered by redshirt freshman running back DeSean Bishop Saturday night, after Tennessee’s 28-18 win over Kentucky at Neyland Stadium. Bishop, Tennessee’s backup behind Dylan Sampson, played just three snaps before suffering the injury in the first half and never returned to the game.
“I don’t have an up update on Bishop,” Heupel said during his postgame press conference.
Tennessee’s running game stayed on track, though, thanks to the usual production from Sampson and some needed yards from freshman running back Peyton Lewis, who replaced Bishop after the injury.
Sampson finished with a season-high 142 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries, averaging 5.3 yards per attempt. Lewis carried eight times for 24 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, his first career touchdown with the Vols and their first points in the first half since the Oklahoma game.
Tennessee run game vs. Kentucky: 44 attempts, 185 yards, 3 TDs
Sampson broke the Tennessee single-season rushing touchdown record with his two scores, giving him 19 on the year with four games left on the regular-season schedule. Gene McEver held the previous mark for the past 95 years, running for 18 touchdowns in 1929.
Sampson has now rushed for 100 or more yards in seven of eight games this season and has gone for 130 or more four times. He’s on pace for 1,470 yards and 28 touchdowns on 256 carries.
Travis Stephens holds Tennessee’s single-season rushing record with 1,464 yards in 2001. He also holds the single-season record for attempts, with 291. Jay Graham holds the record for average per game (130.7)— Sampson is averaging 122.5 yards per game — and 100-yard games (11).
“D-Samp, just an elite night,” Heupel said. “Obviously, (he) wants the fumble back. But hard yards, hitting the hole, playing with pad level. Solid night from him.”
Sampson lost a fumble in the first half, his second straight game with a lost fumble.
Lewis entered the game with 17 carries for 118 yards over the first seven games of the season. He was a four-star running back prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, ranked as the No. 124 overall player nationally and the No. 10 running back in the On3 Industry Ranking.
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“He ran really well,” Heupel said. “He really did. A young guy that just continues to keep coming on.”
Josh Heupel on Tennessee’s running backs: ‘It can’t be just one guy’
Lewis got all eight of his carries on a 14-play, 64-yard touchdown drive late in the second quarter, tying the game at 7-7. He converted a third-and-5 with a 5-yard run early in the possession then ran three straight times for the final eight yards, including the 1-yard touchdown run on third-and-goal from the 1.
Bishop remains Tennessee’s second leading rusher this season, carrying 54 times for 372 yards and three touchdowns. He’s averaging 6.8 yards per carry and 46.5 yards per game.
Redshirt freshman Cam Seldon has carried just eight times for 48 yards in four games this season.
“Every position, but the running back group (especially), it can’t just be one guy,” Heupel said. “You’re going to need (Lewis) throughout the course. And got to get Cam back and fully ready to go and just healthy and hopefully DeSean will be ready and keep pushing those guys.”
