Dylan Sampson breaks Tennessee's single-season rushing record
Dylan Sampson’s historic season added another huge milestone Saturday afternoon at Vanderbilt. Tennessee’s junior running back broke the program record for single-season rushing yards, rushing past the previous record set by Travis Stephens with 1,464 yards in 2001.
Sampson carried for 15 yards late in the fourth quarter to surpass Stephens, then ran for 13 more yards to give him a season-high 178 yards 25 carries in Tennessee’s 26-23 win, putting him at 1,485 yards on the season.
Earlier this season Sampson broke Tennessee records for single-season rushing touchdowns, with the new mark now at 22. He tied the modern record with his 17th rushing touchdown of the season against Alabama in October and set the new record a week later against Kentucky.
Sampson already set single-season rushing TD record, modern era career rushing TD record
Sampson became Tennessee’s 20th running back to go over 1,000 yards for the season when he ran for 149 yards on a season-high 30 carries against Mississippi State on November 9.
He has 35 rushing touchdowns in 31 career games, tying the modern record held by James Stewart. He is just two shy of matching Gene McEver’s record of 37 between 1928 and 1931.
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Sampson has rushed for 100 or more yards in 10 of 12 games this season and 130 or more yards six times. He had multiple rushing touchdowns in seven games, including three with three or more.
‘I think he’s the best back in the country, in my opinion’
He had six touchdowns as a freshman in 2022 and seven more last season, while also catching a touchdown pass last season.
“I think he’s the best back in the country, in my opinion,” Tennessee running backs coach De’Rail Sims said this week. “In terms of production that he’s been able to do, especially in this league. His confidence. Number one, being able to be with him every single day, from the way he goes and attacks the process. And things he’s been able to do from tenacity standpoint.
“When the team needs a spark plug, he’s able to be that guy. Coach Heupel always talks about it. It only takes one match to start a fire. And a lot of times we get in critical situations and he’s the guy that jump starts the fire and gets us rolling in the right direction. In my opinion, he’s the best back in the country.”
