Jaylen Wright makes case for Tennessee running backs as 'the best group in the nation'
Jaylen Wright touched the football five straight times to start Tennessee’s first drive on Saturday against Virginia. The junior running back gained 50 yards in total, including back-to-back rushes that went for a combined 35 yards.
But on fourth-and-5 at the Virginia 9-yard line, it was sophomore Dylan Sampson on the receiving end of the touchdown pass from Joe Milton III.
In the second quarter it was senior Jabari Small getting the majority of the production on another touchdown drive, only to have Sampson end up in the end zone.
‘We’re all going to eat, man’
It happened again in the third quarter. Small ran on five straight plays, gain 28 yards, before Sampson scored from two yards out.
Sampson had 61 total yards on 14 touches on the day and ended up scoring four touchdowns in No. 12 Tennessee’s 49-13 win. Wright led the Vols (1-0) with 115 rushing yards on 12 rushes and Small had 67 yards on 13 attempts, but neither ended up getting in the end zone.
Still, there’s no jealousy in Tennessee’s deep group of running backs.
“I said a million times, man, we’re all putting in work,” Wright said after the game. “We’re all like brothers. We’re all going to eat, man.”
The Vols as a team rushed 52 times for 287 yards and five touchdowns. Milton had two of his own to go with Sampson’s three scores on the ground.
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Tennessee averaged 5.5 yards per rush. Wright averaged 9.6 yards, Small averaged 5.6 and Sampson averaged 5.4. Milton averaged 3.7, rushing nine times for 33 yards.
“We push each other every single day, man,” Sampson said of Tennessee’s running back room. “And it’s fun to have that competition because you always gotta be on your best because you know we all want to be the guy hat gets in the end zone, that makes the good plays, which makes us even better.
“But on the flip side of that, we’re not selfish or none of that. We help each other out. We celebrate with our brothers. You never know when you gotta lean on your brother. I mean like today, sometimes they get tired, I gotta go in for ’em, this and that. It’s just leaning on brothers and trusting each other, man.”
Up Next: No. 12 Tennessee vs. Austin Peay, Saturday, 5 p.m. ET, SEC Network+
Wright last season had a team-high 875 yards and 10 touchdowns on 146 attempts in 13 games. Small led the team in touchdowns, with 13, carries, with 157, and ended the season with 746 yards.
Sampson as a freshman rushed 58 times for 397 yards and six touchdowns.
“(I’ve) been saying this is the best group in the nation,” Wright said on Saturday. “So it’s going show, man. We’re gonna keep just putting in that work.”
