BetOnline sets Heisman Trophy odds for Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson
Dylan Sampson is officially on the board as a Heisman Trophy candidate, per BetOnline. Tennessee Football’s junior running back went from off the board to 80/1 odds after rushing for 139 yards and two touchdowns against Alabama on Saturday.
There are 14 players with better odds than Sampson, who is tied with Army’s Bryson Daily at 80/1.
Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty is the favorite at 2/1, ahead of Miami quarterback Cam Ward (12/5) and Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel (15/4). There are three players with 20/1 odds: Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik and Colorado receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter.
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe both have 25/1 odds.
Up Next: No. 7 Tennessee vs. Kentucky, Saturday, November 2
Jeanty and Sampson both have scored 17 rushing touchdowns this season, leading all running backs in college football. Daily, the Army quarterback, leads the country with 19 rushing touchdowns.
Sampson is 10th nationally in yards at 808, 11th in yards per game at 119.7 and seventh in attempts at 144. He leads the SEC in rush yards, attempts and yards per game.
With two rushing touchdowns Saturday against Alabama, Sampson tied Tennessee’s modern single-season rushing touchdown record with 17 — with five regular-season games remaining on schedule — matching Reggie Cobb’s total during the 1987 season.
“Epitomizes him as a competitor,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said of Sampson’s performance against Alabama. “He’s special.”
Sampson is one touchdown away from tying the all-time single-season record for the Vols. Gene McEver holds the all-time program record for rushing touchdowns in a single season with 18 touchdowns in 1929.
Cobb set the modern record with his 17 rushing touchdowns in 12 games in 1987. He finished the season with 1,197 yards on 237 attempts and also caught three touchdown passes that year.
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Dylan Sampson on pace for 29 rushing touchdowns this season
Sampson is on pace for 29 rushing touchdowns in Tennessee’s 12-game regular season. He’s now up to 838 yards on 144 attempts through seven games, averaging 119.7 yards per game and 5.8 yards per carry.
He has rushed for 100 or more yards in six of the first seven games this season, with the 139 against Alabama being a new season high. He had 138 at Arkansas, 132 vs. NC State, 124 vs. Chattanooga, 112 vs. Florida, 101 vs. Kent State and 92 at Oklahoma.
Sampson has run for two or more touchdowns in six of seven games, too, with four against Kent State, three against Florida, two against NC State, Arkansas and Alabama and one against Oklahoma.
He’s now up to 31 total touchdowns — 30 rushing, one receiving — in just 29 career games at Tennessee. Sampson has scored his 31 touchdowns in just 16 of his 29 games with the Vols.
“D-Samp is a dog, man,” Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava said during his postgame press conference Saturday night.
“I feel like D-Samp is one of the best running backs in the nation,” Tennessee receiver Dont’e Thornton said.
